The Last Bastion
by 10thBreeze
Summary: AU. Uzumaki Naruto is destined to die in his final battle with Uchiha Madara. When all hope seems lost, it seems someone else has different plans for Konoha's Most Unpredictable Shinobi! Time-Travel, Pairings undecided. Skilled, strong Naruto.
1. Prologue: The Last Bastion

**Disclaimer:**_** Naruto **_**and it's respective characters all belong to it's rightful owner Masashi Kishimoto. This is a free piece of fiction and I do not intend to gain profit from it. **

This is AU. With that said, let the story begin.

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><p>Prologue <p>

The midnight sky was tinted red, illuminated by the flames of war raging below. Ominous clouds hovered just below the mountain peaks, massive towers of smoke billowing out of the lush forests of Hi no Kuni.

Sounds of battle filled the atmosphere; cries of anguish, the clashing of metal and booming sounds of destructive jutsu not uncommon. Massive explosions would rock the ground and giant dragons made of water would ocassionally break out of the forest canopy to let out a deafening roar.

Six months ago, the Shinobi Rengougun was formed. Six months ago, every single form of hell had broken loose. The war to protect the last two jinchuuriki had begun then, and it was slowly, yet surely coming to a close... For the Akatsuki.

Civilian and shinobi casualties were in the hundred thousands, and hundreds were added to the statistics everyday. This motivated the coalition of the Five Great Shinobi Countries even more, and the efforts became increasingly desparate.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Mass Shadow Clone)!" One Uzumaki Naruto called out, the battlefield suddenly being filled with blonde teenagers. Naruto had joined the cause a week after the fighting had started, with A and Shikaku realizing that the battle could only be won with Naruto's unique ability to sense the white Zetsu from the Shinobi Rengougun.

Unfortunately, Nine-Tails chakra mode could only last for so long, and Naruto could only cover so much ground before he had to release his clones to prevent himself from dying. Consequentially, the Shinobi Rengougun ended up not only fighting a war against the Akatsuki, but also against themselves. This would double the amount of casualties per day.

Naruto was assigned to the Darui-led First Division, quickly becoming an invaluable soldier in the Shinobi Rengougun with unparalleled prowess and cunning on the field, not to mention his unique ability to motivate those around him. Within two months, he was (finally) promoted to Jounin, and one of the younger field captains on the battlefield.

Having matured much quickly on the front lines, he quickly had to outgrow his orange tracksuit, having to replace it with something much more practical and fitting of his rank. He now donned Konoha's Jounin uniform, albeit with his red sage coat on top of it all.

Currently, Naruto and his batallion were stationed at the border of Hi no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni. Originally, their mission consisted of intercepting and eliminating the Surprise Attack and Diversion platoon in Kawa no Kuni to ensure the invasion of Oto by the Third Division would not be flanked.

Their plan went to shit. Intel stated the platoon was already en route to the ambush point at the borders of Kawa and Oto. Turns out, the Surprise Attack and Diversion platoon lived up to their name and already had an ambush set up for the Naruto-led batallion of the First Division.

As they got within 5 miles of the border, thousands of white spiders crawled out of the ground and trees, decimating the batallion and killing hundreds within the first few seconds. Naruto had to make up for the numbers by quickly creating a few hundred clones to aid the battle against the white Zetsu.

Deidara and Sasori had managed to split the batallion in two, Naruto and a platoon of ninja stuck on half of the forest to deal with Sasori, and Darui a few miles away trying to fend off Deidara.

Sasori had taken care of the some clones handily, and Naruto found himself dodging a deadly forest of iron spikes.

"Uzumaki Naruto..." Sasori began, "I will finish what I had failed to do before." He pulled out a scroll from his back, "Akahiji: Hyakku no Souen (Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets)!"The scrolled summoned hundreds of red clad puppets, all primed and ready to dice the Uzumaki and his squad of ninja to bits.

"Fuck! Everyone, split up now!" Naruto ordered quickly, weaving through a set of hand seals, "Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu (Wind Release: Cutting Wind)!" He stuck his palms out, pointed towards the cloud of deadly puppets and unleashed a massive gale-storm of razor sharp wind.

The windstorm tore through the ranks of the puppets, utterly decimating half of them. Even though, Naruto quickly had to relocate as the ground erupted with extremely deadly black spikes. He cursed as he landed, realizing he had no time to enter Sage mode. He shrugged it off, his own power would be enough.

When the squad had scattered, Samui and her shinobi were quickly ambushed by hundreds of white Zetsu, so the young Jounin was in his battle against the Red Scorpion by himself.

Weaving through the deadly forest, he ducked his head to avoid a white hot stream of flames that would've burned his head off.

"Stop running and die!" Sasori roared, slightly irritated.

The Uzumaki swore, jumping over another branch and crushing two puppets on the way down with a Rasenrengan. He ran a few more metres, before pivoting and rushing headlong towards the puppet master.

Sasori laughed, "You're a fool!" He brought his hand down, and in a deadly combination brought the rest of his puppets rushing down towards the blonde along with more iron sand.

"So I've been told!" Naruto retorted, charging through in an extremely expressive display of acrobatics and dexterity. Hurdling over the branches and dodging the deadly dancing puppets, he blurred into Sasori's direct personal space with one of his signature jutsu, "Rasengan!" He called out, slamming the orb directly into the dead puppet master's cylindrical heart.

The ground cracked, and a shockwave echoed through the forest as Sasori's body was launched backwards and broken into various parts, his heart being blended to a bloody mush by the Rasengan. Puppets that were once floating in the air dropped from the sky and landed in a chorus of clattering.

Naruto panted slightly and rested for a minute, before he bounded off into the forest to aid his batallion.

* * *

><p>Deidara's laughs echoed as he flew in circles above the canopy, dropping pieces of 'art' randomly into the forest.<p>

Darui swore, as he and his squad bounded through the trees just narrowly dodging huge explosions. "As if the white dudes weren't enough, we have to dodge explosions too?"

"I see you rats down there!" He heard the faint voice several hundred feet about him, "I'll give you more Art to appreciate, un!"

"Scatter!" He ordered, and his squad quickly dispered as more flat spiders rained from the sky. He called out into the forest, "Atsui, distract him for a few minutes will ya?"

Atsui nodded, "I'll take this girly punk down a notch!" He and several others jumped out of the canopy while unsheathing his blade. The bowl-cut sporting shinobi blurred, reappearing behind the adrogynous clay user.

"What the-" Deidara had to abandon his bird as the kumo nin sliced right through the clay sculpture, literally melting right through it. "Hot stuff, eh? Take this, un!"

As he was free falling, he quickly detonated his bird, engulfing Atsui in a massive C2 explosion.

"Nice try," Darui called out. "But that move was dull! Try this on for size: Ranton: Reiza Sakasu (Storm Release: Laser Circus)!" A ring appeared around his outstretched hands, laser beams machine gun-ning out of the halo.

"Shit!" Deidara cried, unable to defend himself as he was in mid air. The lasers struck him with pin-point accuracy, vaporising him in a plasma-filled explosion.

Atsui suddenly landed behind Darui, along with the rest of the squad. "That was easy," He said, "Explosions like that won't even come close to touching a Katon master like me!"

Darui let out a mellow laugh before reverting back into a serious mood, "We still have a mission to finish. Let's go regroup with Naruto, we have to finish off the rest of the Zetsu!"

* * *

><p>The First Division had suffered major casualties during the ambush, but they had managed to complete their original objective. Third Division's invasion had went well, running only into a single major hitch.<p>

In order to claim Oto, they had to defeat Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and they had fought terrifyingly well. They cut through the ranks like a hot knife through butter, Kakashi having an extremely difficult time coordinating attacks through the ferocious shinobi. He experienced brief nostalgia in his duel against Zabuza, but the commander proved himself again and again, swiftly taking care of the Demon of the Mist.

The Shinobi Rengougun was experiencing a major victory, and it seemed as if things were finally looking up.

Until Madara decided to step it up a few notches.

The war became a bloodbath. Every Zetsu and ressurected shinobi they had killed in the last two months suddenly rose up a second time, and the Alliance was in no shape to battle a fully recovered army. Having been cut down to half of their original count, all hope was lost for the Rengougun. The future looked bleak, as the shinobi were overwhelmed by thousands of white Zetsu and legendary shinobi at a time.

Within the following months, the shinobi forces slowly dwindled and were pushed back. The might of the powerful shinobi of the Rengougun would not be enough, as legendary ninja fell on the field. The seemingly invincible Killer B would be captured. Commanders like Darui and Kakashi would fall bravely on the field, along with hundreds of thousands of other shinobi.

By the time the war would reach it's fifteenth month, the Allied Shinobi Forces were but 20,000-some shinobi from the original 500,000+. The Akatsuki had kept their army at a steady force of about 250,000. The Rengougun was simply outmanned and severely outgunned. Not even the most brilliant strategy could win the war at this point.

They were backed into the last corner, and into the last bastion of hope: Konoha.

The Allied Shinobi Forces would be fighting a four-front battle around the forests 10 miles directly around Konohagakure no Sato, in a last desperate act of defense. At this point, every shinobi had steeled their resolve and vowed to fight to the bitter end.

Uzumaki Naruto, now the commander of the First Division was not going to be on the front lines. No, he would be fighting the most important battle of his life.

Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sasuke.

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><p>"You are about to become a legend, Uzumaki Naruto." Madara stated, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I will make sure your name is remembered while I rule the world!"<p>

They were in a desloate clearing, a strange sight in Hi no Kuni. There were no trees for a mile across. Just rocks and barren land, akin to the crater Pain's Shinra Tensei had created.

On one end stood a lone shinobi, red cloak fluttering in the wind. A splitting image of the Yondaime Hokage stood Commander Uzumaki Naruto. He was destined to die in this battle.

On the other stood a pair of Eternal-Mangekyou Sharingan wielding shinobi. One with a massive fan on his back and the other with a chokuto strapped to his. Madara and Sasuke were destined to crush the blonde Jinchuuriki.

Naruto chuckled, "And I'll make sure your names are remembered when I drag you down to hell with me!" His body erupted into golden light as he entered Nine-Tails Chakra mode.

"Die, Dead-last!" And with that, the three shinobi disappeared.

* * *

><p>The once mile-wide clearing was turned into a crater with a 5 mile diameter, a great rift forming through the middle.<p>

The battle was one of inhuman proportions, massive explosion rocking the earth and the three shinobi clashing at invisible speeds.

Sasuke had since called upon Susanoo, unable to match Naruto in pure speed like Madara could and had to make up for it in raw strength. This would turn the battle in Naruto favour however, as he would destroy Susanoo and fatally wound Sasuke with the completed Tailed-Beast Rasengan.

Madara and Naruto would then continue to fight at blinding speeds, but Naruto was unable to match the ancient shinobi in raw strength and Ninjutsu.

The Uchiha would strike the jinchuuriki down swiftly, and impale him with his katana, disembowling the blonde and almost rending him in half.

"You were a formidable opponent, Uzumaki." The Last Uchiha praised, "You have truly surpassed your father. But just like him, even you were no match for me."

The mutilated Uzumaki could do nothing but cough up blood, surprising even himself for being alive.

"Alas, it is time I finally extract the last bijuu and finish what I had envisioned so many years ago."

As he bent down to perform the final technique to extract the Kyuubi, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan eyes met glacier blue.

"Fuck... you..." the blonde managed to utter. He let out a blood curtling scream a white hot flame engulfed his body, the Ancient Uchiha being blinded by a sudden explosion of white light.

The next thing Madara knew, Uzumaki Naruto had simply vanished.

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><p>End Prologue.<p>

So? How was it? This is my first real venture into fanfiction... So don't be too harsh haha. The fight scenes between Naruto/Sasori and Darui/Deidara were to give a glimpse as to how the Allied Shinobi Forces operated in my version of the war.

This is an AU Time-Travel story if you haven't guessed, with an extremely smart, skilled and mature Naruto. Pairings are undecided of right now.

Review and favourite if you liked it! Constructive critisicm is welcome.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it belongs to it's rightful owner and creator Masashi Kishimoto. **

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><p>Chapter 1: Going with the Flow<p>

"**Well, you've really outdone yourself this time.**"

"_Kyuubi... I'm finally dead aren't I?"_

"**Not yet, ningen. Open your eyes.**"

Naruto groggily opened his eyes, rubbing the spots out. He was greeted by nothing but white. It was almost blinding, and if he couldn't see his own body he would've thought he **was** blind.

He rolled onto his stomach, pushing himself up. There was a gaping hole in his vest and clothes, but his abdomen was physically unscathed. The floor and everything else around him was bright white, until two figures suddenly started to materialize in front of him.

The Kyuubi was there; the motherfucker was at his full massive size, towering over the blonde commander by at least 100 meters. His nine tails swished lazily behind him. There was another figure underneath him; a human, one Naruto recognized very well.

"T-t-tou-chan?" Naruto stammered out, unable to believe his own eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Minato give a small chuckle, "I could ask you very same thing, Naruto."

The Uzumaki narrowed his eyes, "I'm supposed be dead; I didn't know heaven was this deserted..."

"**You truly are an imbecile.**" The Kyuubi bellowed, "**We're at the boundary of the living and the dead.**"

"B-but.. why?" Naruto asked.

"It seems Kami herself has greater plans for you, son." Minato said with a smile, "Since She is unable to come down here Herself, She sent me instead."

Naruto was completely confused. He was about to open his mouth to speak, until Kyuubi interrupted him.

"**Our time in the plane of the living has not reached it's end yet.**" He said, "**It seems you're destined to accomplish greater things.**"

"You are the Child of Prophecy, Naruto." the Yondaime stated proudly, "Kami cannot allow you to die like this; you're the saviour of the world." The commander's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Well I can't really save anything when we're almost dead can I?" Naruto half-yelled.

"**Which is why your bastard of a father is here.**" The bijuu stated. Minato decided to elaborate.

"Kami granted me the power to perform a kinjutsu that no one but the Shodai himself knows," Minato began. "She's tasked me to send you back in time."

"... Come again?"

"Time-travel, dim-witted son of mine." Minato laughed, "It might seem impossible, but since your furry bastard of a tenant here is actually willing to cooperate, we should be able to pull it off."

"**The technique is a special kind of fuuinjutsu, your father's specialty." **Kyuubi said, "**With my chakra, we should be able to send you back into your childhood. How far I do not know, however."**

Naruto seemed thoughtful. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get this started!"

Ten minutes later, Naruto sat in the middle of a massive seal array, with his father hovering above him.

"Ready?" Minato asked. The younger blonde nodded; he was as ready as he could ever be. "All right."

The Yondaime suddenly went through an extremely long sequence of handseals, at a very impressive speed.

"Kyuubi, chakra!" Minato ordered, going through the last few handseals, "Good luck my son, I have nothing but utter faith in you! Brace yourself, Jikuukan Fuuin: Gyakuji Idou no Jutsu (Space-Time Seal: Reverse Time Migration)!"

The array lit up violently, and it exploded into a massive burst of light.

"Fuck... you... Madara!"

Naruto had never been in so much pain before.

* * *

><p>-BEEP- -BEEP- -BEEP-<p>

"_Fucking alarm clock... The bed's too comfy..."_ Naruto thought sleepily, "_Gimme five more minutes... Wait, what?"_

Cerulean eyes shot open, and he leaped out of his familiar bed. Ignoring the fact his pillow and half his face was covered in drool, he slammed his fist on top of the digital clock he had relied on for so many years.

He stumbled around his apartment to his washroom, gaping at himself in the mirror.

"Fuck me sideways," He said, disbelievingly squeezing his face and pinching himself multiple times, "It actually worked!"

There he was, staring at himself in his mirror in his old bathroom. His face was chubbier and his hair a lot shorter and more unruly than it used to be. He sighed inwardly as he realized how much he had to tip-toe to get a decent look at himself in the mirror.

He padded out of his washroom, entering the kitchen and checking the calendar.

Monday, November 14th. The upgraded C-Rank mission to Nami no Kuni was a week ago.

So he was launched eight long years into the past, back in his incompetent 12 year old body.

Wonderful.

Naruto would then take a nice long shower to think. If he remembered correctly, Team 7 usually had to meet up at 8 in the morning, but Kakashi was always at least two hours late. This would give the Uzumaki plenty of time to go over his current situation.

He walked back into his room while he was towelling his hair off, when he suddenly jumped backwards.

"How the hell did these get here…?" Naruto asked no one in particular. At the foot of his bed on the floor was his adult-sized Jounin uniform, along with his Sage coat. He quickly stuffed them into the back of his closet, lest his cyclops sensei sneak in and discover the clothes extremely out of place for the genin.

He stood in front of his closet and sighed.

"All this orange could light up a room." He murmured to himself.

Considering it was a brisk November morning, he opted for the standard black shinobi pants taped up on the bottom and a black open neck longsleeved shirt he had miraculously found amongst the orange in his closet. _We're definitely gonna have to go shopping for new clothes,_ he thought as slipped the shirt on.

After making sure his hip and leg pouch were tightly secured in their respective places, he tied his hitai-ate securely around his forehead.

"Time to get to work." He said to himself, slipping open his window, taking a deep breath of clean untainted Konohagakure air. He leaped out without a sound.

* * *

><p>The last Uzumaki bounded across the roofs of his village, getting reacquainted with his younger body and undeveloped senses.<p>

_I need to figure out the limitations of this body,_ he thought, front flipping over a considerably large gap between two buildings. _I'll have to meditate and get in touch with the Kyuubi too._ He sighed.

Naruto definitely had his work cut out for him this time.

Making sure he wasn't followed, he landed in one of the smaller training grounds. Training Ground 12 was generally secluded, and at the farthest edge of the village compared to the other ones. It was a mile from where he was to meet his team, so it was rather convient as well.

_First thing's first..._ He thought, sitting down and entering his Lotus stance, _the furball._

* * *

><p>(Naruto's Mindscape)<p>

As Naruto was dropped into his mindscape, he quickly surmised something was wrong.

Instead of being greeted by the sewer and giant bars he was used to, he was back in the empty white nothingness the Kyuubi had once called limbo. As he looked around, there was no sight of the orange-furred demon fox.

"Oi, Kyuubi!" he called out, only for his voice to echo for miles around. "Furball! Where are you!"

That was strange. He was certain he could feel the fox's life force in his seal as usual, but he was nowhere to be found.

He decided to walk around the white vastness, hoping to find a speck of red or orange. He wandered for what seemed like hours, his sense of direction completely lost as everything looked the same. _I knew my brain was empty, but this is kinda pushing it, isn't it?_ He joked to himself.

His eyebrows furrowed. Nine-Tails chakra mode, or anything requiring the Kyuubi's help would be out of the scene at the moment.

He sighed deeply, deciding to worry about it later.

* * *

><p>(Real world)<p>

He grimaced. Things would sure get kinda lonely without the Kyuubi constantly reminding Naruto of his presence.

_All right, next task..._ He once again entered his Lotus postion, _Sage mode._

He felt the natural energies around him, slowly getting in touch with nature. Sage mode was his favourite state to be in, the utter calmness and serenity the world provided him was amazing. He could communicate with the wildlife, sense the feelings of plantlife and detect natural disturbances in the air saturated by the sage chakra.

He asked the Earth silently if it could lend him some power, to which it obliged.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, his pupils golden, the orange pigmentation around his eyes a tell-tale sign of a sage. He grinned widely.

"Sage mode accomplished." He said to himself, enjoying his perfect harmony with nature. For the next five minutes, he quickly reviewed his signature Frog taijutsu style. Being careful not to accidentally destroy the small training area with a misplaced kick or punch, he went over the outlines slowly. His taijutsu and coordination was absolutely abysmal. How had he beaten Neji in the exam finals like this?

He shook the doubtful thoughts from his head, deciding to improve on it later.

Next, he held both his hands out, manipulating his chakra into a perfect sphere.

"All right, now we're talkin'!" He laughed, creating two Rasengan; one in each hand. He walked over to a medium-sized tree, and hoping he wouldn't attract too much attention tested it out, "Rasenrengan!"

The tree and about 10 others behind it were utterly decimated, the boom shaking the training ground and about two others next to it.

Looking over his handiwork, he couldn't surpress his laugh, as even he was impressed at the power behind his attack. It was nice to see his ninjutsu was as ridiculously effective as before.

Naruto smirked, slipping out of sage mode as he abandoned the training ground, lest he be discovered in his powered state. He had many other techniques and jutsu he had to test out in this body, namely the Rasenshuriken and his offensive jutsu he favored during the war, but figured it wasn't the time and place just yet.

Besides, judging by the position of the sun in the sky, it was almost time for Kakashi to show up.

* * *

><p>Sasuke and Sakura were leaning on the small bridge looming over the peaceful little stream that served as Team 7's usual meeting place. It brought a longing smile to Naruto's face as he remembered both of their bloody ends; Sakura's at the hands of Sasuke and Sasuke's at the hands of Naruto's ultimate jutsu.<p>

He shook the melancholy thoughts out of his head, decided to fuck with his old team for old time's sake. Renowned as a Master of Stealth during his tenure in the Fourth War surpassed only by Jiraiya himself, he liked to admit he was as sneaky as they came.

"Gahh!" Sakura exclaimed, "First our pervert of a sensei Kakashi, and now that stupid idiot Naruto? Is the world filled with tardy bastards?"

"What are you talking about, Sakura-chan? I've been here the whole time..." Naruto remarked absently, leaning against the rail beside Sakura.

She let out an ear-piercing shriek, jumping back and almost falling into the water. Even Sasuke had to admit, Naruto's presence had surprised him.

_I didn't even feel his presence until he decided to talk..._ The Uchiha thought suspiciously, _And what's with his clothes? Trying to out-cool the last Uchiha, eh?_

"Naruto!" Sakura pointed a finger at him angrily, "What the hell is your problem, you baka! You don't just sneak up on people like that!" Her anger faded however, "And what's with the new look?"

"Hey, you're a ninja!" He huffed, turning away from her, "You're not suppposed to let people sneak up on you yenno! And what's wrong with the new look, I think it helps my stealth a lot!"

"Maa," Said another voice off to the side, scaring Sakura a second time and this time actually sending her over the rail and into the water. Kakashi leaned over the railing, "Naruto's right, Shinobi aren't supposed to let other shinobi sneak up on them yenno."  
>He glanced at the blonde quickly, "The new look suits you by the way." The Scarecrow remarked off handedly. Naruto simply grinned.<p>

"Besides," Kakashi continued, "How do you expect me to trust you guys in the upcoming Chuunin Exams if you don't even know that simple rule?"

"Chuunin Exams?" Sasuke and Sakura asked in chorus, the latter shaking off river water from her hair.

"Hai," The jounin said, pulling out three slips of paper. "I've nominated you three, my cute little genin, for the Chuunin Selection Exams happening next week!" He handed them each a slip, "So if you see any foreign shinobi roaming the village this week, please treat them nicely..." Kakashi said looking at his shortest genin, "That means you, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah I got it..."

"Good!" Kakashi said with an eye-smile, clapping his hands together. "These forms are due this Wednesday, so be sure to hand them into me by then. Remember, if you feel like you aren't ready, I'm not pressuring you to take it."

"As if," Sasuke said off to the side, "I'm always ready." He crossed his arms. Unbeknownst to him, Kakashi and Naruto caught a nervous looking Sakura, but did not comment on it.

"I'm sure you are, Sasuke. Anyways, I'm giving you guys a the next two days off to think about it! So that means no training until then." He eye-smiled once again, "You know where to find me!" He flashed a one handed ram seal before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"That pervert," Naruto deadpanned, "No we don't... Anyways, I'm going to Ichiraku's for lunch, you guys wanna come?" Sasuke simply walked away, and Sakura looked back at him apologetically.

"Maybe next time Naruto!" She said, before running after the raven-hair genin.

The blonde shrugged, departing on his trek to the ramen stand.

_Until the furball makes himself known again, I have no idea where I'm supposed to start with all this time-travelling business..._ He let out a sigh. _Maybe if I can find Ero-sennin... but he won't be here for another 3 weeks at the most._

He rounded a corner, _I guess I'll just have to go with the fl-_ His thoughts were cut short as he felt a presence behind him. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he turned around, just to catch a square-shaped rock with eye holes stop moving.

"Oh gee, I wonder who this amazing ninja with stellar stealth skills could be? He's so amazing I feel as if I'm completely alone on this street right now!"

The rock would explode into a smokey display of fireworks.

"-Cough- Boss! I see you're -cough- sharp as ever! -cough cough-" Konohamaru said, dusting himself of the black powder, "Udon! I told you we used too much gunpowder!"

"Sorry boss," Udon said, sniffling. "Nex-"

"Sasuke-kuuuuuuunnnn!" They heard a voice coo, "Please go on a da-" Sakura and Sasuke stopped as they spotted the blonde and his followers. "Naruto! Are you bullying these poor children?"

"W-wait..." Naruto stammered slowly backing away from the flaming pink haired girl, "Hold on a second here, it wasn't me, it w-"

"I think lying deserves double the whallop, don'tcha think Naruto?" Just as she was about beat Naruto into the next life, Konohamaru decided to voice his opinion.

"Hey, boss!" The Sarutobi called out, "Is this banshee the pretty girl you keep talking about on your team?"

His question was met with blank stares, from his friends, Naruto and Sakura herself. Sasuke would use this opportunity to slip away from the strange group unnoticed.

The cherry-blossom's eye twitched dangerously. "What did you say?"

"I said," Konohamaru cleared his throat with pure, legitimate innocence, "Is this **banshee** the girl you keep talking about?"

"Banshee?" Sakura repeated, before exploding into unbridled rage, taking after the young Sarutobi, "WHY I OUGHTA BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Konohamaru quickly hauled ass as the Haruno was hot on his tail, "Booosss!" He cried, "This bitch is crazy!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

As the academy student ran for his life, he turned the corner into an alleyway…

Only to smack into a much taller Genin. Konohamaru landed flat on his bottom, and he rubbed his backside painfully.

"You fucking brat!" The boy yelled angrily. He was a fairly tall genin, clad in what could be described as a one-piece pajama suit complete with a cat-eared hood. He had a bulbous nose and had purple kabuki-style facepaint decorating his visage. The boy bore the Sunagakure insignia on his hitai-ate, and was carrying a peculiar bandaged package on his back.

_Kankuro…_ Naruto thought, immediately recognizing the older genin. _That must mean…_ The blonde quickly sensed two others. He smiled, _Gaara and Temari are here too!_

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson brat!" Kankuro ground out, rearing his fist back ready to utterly clobber the poor kid. A blur suddenly appeared in front of him, his fist being caught easily.

"Ah-ah," Naruto wagged a finger at him with his free hand, his other hand literally crushing the older genin's in his grip, "You were about to the beat up the Hokage's grandson… That would've gotten you and your team in some serious shit if I'm not correct."

Sasuke was gaping in his spot in the nearby tree. _What the fuck was that? I didn't even see the dobe move…_

A swirl of sand sudden materialized beside them, along with a blonde haired kunoichi running down from the other end of the alley.

"Kankuro…" came a creepy monotone, "Back off or I'll kill you."

"S-sure thing, Gaara!" Kankuro gulped, "Whatever you say!"

Gaara ignored his frantic nonsense, turning his gaze onto the blonde jinchuuriki.

"What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said with a grin, "A pleasure to meet someone like myself."

"As I thought…" Gaara's stone faced twisted into a maniacal, teeth baring smile, "I am Subaku no Gaara. I look forward to killing you in the exams. Temari, Kankuro! Let's go." And with that, the sand trio was gone.

"That guy was a fucking creep!" Sakura exclaimed. Konohamaru was simply to stunned by everything that had happened in the last five minutes to even say anything.

Moegi and Udon finally caught up with the group, helping the young Sarutobi up.

"He's an all right guy once you get past his murderous exterior… Kind of," Naruto said with a knowing smirk, "Sasuke, Sakura! Why don't we go and have that ramen now, huh?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, _There's no way he could've detected me up here… something fishy's going on here._ He dropped down from his perch in the oak, landing beside the group. Much to his credit, he managed to keep his regular stoic façade. "Sure, I'm starving anyways." He stated.

Naruto nodded, "Konohamaru, get your friends and we'll go eat lunch, ne?"

* * *

><p>(That Night)<p>

The blonde took the liberty to purchase himself a new set of threads under the henge of a rather ordinary looking ninja. He switched to the long, black hitai-ate he had favoured during the war. Naruto had gotten a tight black longsleeve v-neck shirt, with his usual fishnet undershirt underneath that. He sported the Rock Lee-style bandage gloves that went over the forearms of the shirt, with a pair of dull-grey ANBU forearm guards on top of those. He kept the black standard pants, but switched out his blue sandals for jet black ones. To top it all off, he threw in a long, thick red muffler scarf that was slightly loose around his neck and mouth.

"Man…" The blonde said, checking himself out in the mirror. "Why didn't I think of this look before? I look so bad ass…"

"That you do, Naruto." Said a familiar friendly voice. "You actually look like a ninja for once."

"Konbanwa, Kakashi-sensei." The blonde greeted without even facing the masked-ninja who was currently poking head into the wide open window of Naruto's room, "What brings you to my humble abode at this time of evening?"

The scarecrow's single visible eye crinkled into an eye-smile, "I brought you a basket of fruit and vegetables." He said, pulling said basket seemingly out of nowhere. "A growing ninja like yourself needs to eat more than just ramen, you know."

Genuinely surprised, the blonde took the basket happily without argument. "Wow Kaka-sensei… I really appreciate this!" His respect for his sensei and former-ish commander had risen even higher than it was before.

"Just looking out for my favourite short blond genin of course," The Jounin replied, "Oh, and I'll take your exam registration form if it's filled out too." The Uzumaki fished into his hip pouch, pulling out the slightly crinkled slip of paper, which Kakashi plucked from his fingers. "Excellent. I'll see you in two days!" He turned around, ready to disappear, before stopping to take one last glance at the Yondaime's Heir, "Oh and, if you ever need someone to talk to about something, It's my duty as your guardian and sensei to listen to your problems."

Naruto's eyes widened. He had quickly seen the true meaning to that sentence. _He knows I'm hiding something…. But how?_

"Goodnight, Naruto." And with that, the Jounin vanished, leaving a rightfully confused blond not-genin alone for the night.

* * *

><p>End Chapter 1.<p>

* * *

><p>Character Statistics: Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto (Pre-Time Warp)<br>Age: 20  
>Rank: Commander of the First Division (Jounin)<br>Affiliation: Konohagakure no Sato, Shinobi Rengougun, Myoubokuzan  
>Signature Jutsu: Kage Bunshin, Rasengan, Rasenshuriken<p>

Biography:

The last Uzumaki and the heir to the Yondaime Hokage, Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed into him when he was only a few hours old. Enduring a childhood of loneliness and hardship, he always managed to maintain a sunny disposition during the entirety of his adolescence. Due to having a massive bloodthirsy bijuu trapped within his stomach, he always had a life filled with constant fighting and violence. His true potential would shine through during the dark days of the Fourth Shinobi World War, where he would prove to surpass both his parents in skill and leadership, becoming one of the most powerful and feared shinobi of his time.

Stats (Out of 5):  
>Ninjutsu: 5<br>Taijutsu: 4.5  
>Genjutsu: 1.5<br>Intelligence: 4  
>Strength: 4.5<br>Speed: 5  
>Stamina: 5<br>Hand seals: 4

**Total: 33.5**

* * *

><p>What did ya think? From now on I'll try to write much longer chapters, but as a new writer I find it difficult to fit a lot of content into one chapter without advancing too far into the storyline.<p>

Yes, I had Naruto shrink back into his twelve year old self, albeit retaining most of his Jounin Ninjutsu. I'm thinking of making this story a small harem, but I need you guys to give me suggestions as to which find ladies to use in it!

As for his new outfit, I modelled it after the more traditional black-clad ninjas, simply because it's practical, it works, and it looks fucking bad ass.

Expect more twists and turns in the oncoming chapters!

Leave behind reviews and favorite it if you like the story hehe. Constructive critiscm is welcome!


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **Other than the stuff in my house I do own, which isn't much. lol.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it! You guys are helping a lot!

Oh and, for those of you interested I drew up a quick bust of Naruto in his current outfit I explained in the last chapter. The link is in my profile.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: The Future of the Past<p>

(Flashback: Kaze no Kuni borders)

"We're good," Naruto heard the voice over the radio. He and his squad were currently crouched behind a fairly large sand dune, and they were in radio contact with another squad a kilometer away; closer to the objective. "Don't move yet though, wait for taichou's signal!"

The platoon was currently split up into three squads; the first squad and captain was currently scouting the entrance of what could be a possible field HQ for the Akatsuki to be working out of: A conspicuous cave stuck inside of a massive rock formation in the middle of the desert. The second squad was in the direct 100 meter vicinity of the first squad as back up while Naruto and his squad were to move once the others were in and had found another possible entrance.

Neji and Samui stood at the mouth of the cave, being extremely cautious. The Hyuuga's byakugan was activated and he was trying to follow the tunnels deeper into the ground.

"It's impossible for me to look further in as the tunnels stretch for kilometers. I'm afraid we'll have to go in and check ourselves." Neji stated solemnly, "It's up to you, Samui-taichou."

He heard the large breasted woman sigh. "I suppose so." She motion for squad two to move into her vicinity as she put a hand up to her radio, "Naruto, you and squad three are going to keep watch as we scout the cavern out. If you see anything suspicious out here I want you radio in and report it immediately." He heard him sigh over the channel, "and remember: we're the only platoon in this area at the moment."

"Gotcha Taichou," the Uzumaki's voice crackled over the radio, "We'll take care of anything up here!"

"Good." She replied, "All right, First Division, let's go!"

(with Naruto)

Naruto and 5 other shinobi were simply just sitting in the Sand idly. It was in the dead of the night and the only sounds heard were from the occasional breeze or one of his men shifting around nervously.

"Fuku-taichou," said a younger Hyuuga chuunin with his Byakugan activated, "I see multiple chakra signatures coming from the southwest..."

"Approximation of numbers and distance!"

"Twenty plus inbound about 6 kilos away; ETA 5 minutes!"

Naruto swore before addressing the Hyuuga, "Jiro, radio in the situation to Samui-taichou. Everyone else get into formation B-7 with a 50 meter spread around the sand dunes." The six shinobi quickly split up into several inconspicuous spots around the sand dunes in a spaced out, zig-zag pattern. "Tenten, get some of your mines set up in the sand up there, we're gonna light these fuckers up into kingdom come!"

"Roger!"

"Jiro, distance!" Naruto ordered over the radio in a harsh whisper.

"500 meters! We got a minute!"

"Perfect, everyone brace yourselves!"

Several white Zetu and a couple of cloaked ninja came into view as they leaped over a distant sand dune. _That's... Yagura?_ Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the incoming shinobi.

Several explosions rocked the ground as the Akatsuki passed over the mines, obscuring the incoming ninja from view.

Tenten quickly saturated the massive fireball with a hail of sharp weapons, and Naruto would follow in suit.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow clone)!"

His squad stood on edge as the smoke from the explosions started to die down. The entire group of white Zetsu were laying on the ground, burnt or had kunai and shuriken sticking out from multiple places on their bodies.

The ground started to shake, and a massive tidal wave emerged from behind a few sand dunes.

"What the fuck?" one of his teammates called out.

"Shit, it's the Yondaime Mizukage!" Naruto said, recognizing the sanbi jinchuuriki standing on top of the tsunami. "Hold your breaths!"

The next thing the squad knew, they were all 30 meters deep in murky water trying to swim their way back to the surface. It was easier said than done however, as powerful and massive spike-shaped pulses zipped passed them as they frantically swam their way to the top. One by one his team was impaled by the invisible force, blood starting to cloud the water and his vision.

The lieutenant and Jiro were the only ones to make it back to the surface alive, the rest of his squad floating on top of the water face down, bleeding from massive holes in their abdomens.

Naruto's now-golden eyes glared at the revived jinchuuriki, who was standing on the other side of the man-made lake passively.

Tendrils of water suddenly erupted from beneath their feet; the Uzumaki managing to jump high enough to avoid it in time. The young Hyuuga was not as lucky, as he was dragged down in the murky depths and impaled multiple times.

Time slowed as Naruto was in the air, and he watched two massive water dragons break out of the water and rush towards him. Luckily for him he was plummeting faster than the dragons were approaching, and he used to his momentum to deliver a sage mode empowered punch to tear through the dragons and landing onto the water with a huge shockwave.

The next thing he knew, Yagura was above him with his special sword-staff reared back. Naruto blocked the slash with a kunai in his right hand, and a Rasengan popped into his left. He shoved it into the short Mizukage's abdomen; Sage mode eyes met Rinnegan eyes once again, until the other jinchuuriki was launched backwards and sent skipping across the water.

The large man-made lake slowly drained, and soon the bodies of what used to be his squad were scattered around him in puddles forming from their own blood. The red liquid glistened in the moonlight. The Uzumaki fought back tears as he went around to each of their mutilated bodies, closing their eyes and saying a small prayer for each of them. The last body he went to was Tenten's. Her brown eyes stared up at the moon lifelessly, a trail of blood trickling from the corner of her lips.

His tears came down silently as he closed her eyes too, _I wonder how I'm supposed break this to Lee, Gai and Neji..._

* * *

><p>(Present)<p>

Ever since Naruto was sent back in time, he frequently had nightmares of the war. They were in a random jumbled order, and they always depicted a random battle he had participated in. To him, the war was always the same shit in different days. People always died, and they were always bloodied and battered.

After the first month he no longer cried over his fallen comrades. Every new mission he was sent out on always had casualties, and his friends were always a part of the statistic. The war made him cold, hard and brittle, but it strengthened his mind in a way no other experience ever could. There were several instances in the war where he deemed his survival pure luck, however. And after watching all his friends die there was a point where he wished he had too.

There was one thing he discovered during the war though: the enemies fell just as easily as his comrades did. He used his super-human regenerative abilities and stamina to full advantage as he was always capable of sustaining at least one fatal hit before weakening. This always gave him enough time to crush his enemy and then some. Even against an enemy of the Mizukage's caliber; once Naruto had found an opening no one was invincible. It was just a matter of stretching the battle long enough for him to find that weakness. The blonde wasn't as strategically gifted like his Nara companion, but even he had to admit he was ingenius in his own right.

He was currently sitting on the edge of his bed, drenched in sweat. It was always like that after a bloody nightmare. The room was still dim; the moon setting itself just below the mountaintops. The blonde glanced at his clock. It faintly glowed an eerie monochromatic green colour, flashing _4:21 am_.

The room was cold, probably due to the fact that it was that he left his window slightly ajar and it was in the middle of November. Konoha's mild winter was just around the corner. It was fine; Naruto happened to enjoy the cold.

He padded into the washroom, stepping into the shower and letting the warm liquid wash away his past… er, future. He sighed, _No time like the present though… er, past. Whatever._

Today was the first day of the Chuunin Exams, and he was slightly nervous. _You'd think after taking it already and knowing what's gonna happen I'd have grown a pair by now…_ _What was the first test again? Oh right, that stupid written test in the academy. It's going to be fun fucking around with the system this time around._

The other day, Naruto had taken the liberty to go over his skill set. One thing the blonde did not want was using one of his mega-powerful techniques to use as a trump card (or to show off…) and have it blow up in his face. He sneaked out of the village using a technique Jiraiya had created that allowed him to turn transparent (or appear transparent) by bending the way light hit him using chakra.

It worked, albeit for a short time and it was used again two sleeping chuunin gate guards, but it still worked.

He tested most of his offensive and defensive techniques in a rather large and secluded clearing in the forest a few miles away from the village. Naruto was rather disheartened to find out all his techniques were severely toned down.

His earth walls were still massive and sturdy, but it took a _much_ larger amount of chakra to perform, not to mention his mastery over the earth element was horrible since his younger self had never ventured into any elemental techniques at all. The earth dragon he created was smaller and a shit ton harder to control, not to mention the massive chakra drain he had experience right after. After that, he decided not to test anymore earth techniques since he was left fatigued and sweaty.

He was relieved to see that the elements he had a natural talent with, wind and fire, were much easier to control and a lot less taxing on chakra. He shot out massive fireballs with relative ease, although their size paled in comparison to the goenkuu's he could spit out during the war. His wind techniques were downgraded from massive, clear-cut forest-rending tornadoes to just bursts of surface-wounding wind blades.

Naruto was proud to admit that he had fully mastered his Rasenshuriken with only two hands: one hand to provide the shape and chakra and the other to provide his element. When he tried it here however, he found his jutsu just dissipating before it even became a wind-infused Rasengan. It would start to screech, but then disappear with an ear piercing pop. He tried it with a clone, but when the technique would reach its full size, he could literally start to feel the intensity of the technique tear through his arm. He would dispel the technique before he could cause anymore self-harm. It had ripped right through his bandage-gloves and made countless tiny cuts in his forearm, looking like one big bloody ring of flesh.

He expected no less of an outcome, considering he had no mastery over any of the elements, and trying a technique that required full mastery and control of oneself was great foolishness on his part. It was all right at the moment however; he wouldn't need any major firepower for another year or so. The Uzumaki would definitely find a work around by then.

The only thing he needed to worry about at the moment was the brief run-in they were going to have with Orochimaru. If he could defeat, no, at least stall the snake bastard long enough for the ANBU to show up then he would be one step closer to preventing his bastard of a friend from defecting.

Clad in only a towel, he rummaged through his refrigerator looking for breakfast. As he grew older, Naruto learned that the best way to grow strong and healthy was a good variety of food and a big breakfast. He dropped a carton of eggs, a package of bacon, and a package of miso on his counter top. Nothing like a great combination of food to start off your day.

"Itadakimasu." He said quietly, ready to feast on the rather large meal he had prepared for himself. He was slurping down his miso soup when he heard a faint knock on the door. Puzzled, he padded into his room to slip on undergarments and his pants, all while the repeated rapping on the door increased in vigor and loudness. _Who the hell could be visiting me at 5:30am?_ "Yeah, yeah hold on I'm coming!"

He swung the door open to find his one-eyed sensei looking down on him. "Ohayou, Naruto." Kakashi said, his cheerful voice contradicting the time of day it was.

"Kaka-Sensei?" Naruto said before being moved aside as the jounin let himself in, "What are you doing here? And I'm surprised you didn't come in through the window this time."

"I just came here to remind you to be at the Academy at 8am sharp!" He began, pulling a carton of milk and an apple from his fridge, "I figured you wouldn't be able to wake up in time, so I decided to be a good sensei and wake you up for you. It seems my favourite blonde genin is more responsible than I thought." He turned around and faced the kitchen window, an audible crunch being heard.

"Hey!" Naruto huffed indignantly, reclaiming his seat on his kitchen table, "I'll have you know I'm a lot more responsible than people give me credit for." He popped a slice of bacon into his mouth. "I mean look at how clean this place is! You wouldn't expect an orphan who doesn't get any visitors to clean up after himself do you?"

Kakashi was leaning against the counter, taking a rather large swig of the 1L jug of milk he had stolen from Naruto's fridge, "I suppose not. I was actually expecting to find underwear and ramen on the floor the first time I broke into your apartment." He threw his apple core into the small chrome trash bucket in the corner of the kitchen.

"Thanks," the blonde drawled, "Your confidence in my ability to be clean and independent makes me feel amazing." He stacked his bowls on top of each other, "And hey, what do you mean the first time? You broke into my apartment?"

"Of course I did," the scarecrow replied off handedly, "Where do you think these fruits and this fresh carton of milk came from anyway?" He pulled out his orange book, "Besides, I thought you would've known with those motion detecting seals you placed all over the place anyways."

Naruto dropped the china he was holding onto into the sink with a clatter, "W-what… How did you even see those?"

"I'll admit, for fairly simple seals the craftsmanship and handwriting used to make them was master-class." Kakashi admitted, "It almost looks like the Yondaime's handwriting. I wouldn't have noticed them to begin with had I not been familiar with the seal's faint chakra leak beforehand." He eyed Naruto suspiciously, "Where did you learn how to create fuuinjutsu?"

The blonde returned with his own narrowed gaze, "I might've read up on a thing or two from a few books I pulled out in the library."

Kakashi was unphased, "Of course you did." He flipped his book open, returning to his cheery morning disposition, "Well, I suppose this isn't the time to prod and pester you about it, so we'll continue this talk after the exams." He opened the front door, "If you ever need tips on fuuinjutsu, don't hesitate to ask me. I might know a few things."

Naruto nodded warily, holding the door open as his sensei stepped out of the apartment.

"Remember, 8am sharp in room 301! Don't be late." Kakashi gave him an eye smile before poofing from the hallway.

Naruto sighed, before slamming the door shut. "You're one to talk, you tardy perverted bastard."

_Note to self: Never underestimate your old jounin sensei that knows you better than you do._

* * *

><p>(Konohagakure Academy – 7:33am)<p>

Naruto was sitting on the swing (which he had affectionately called his 'Lonely Swing') underneath the large tree in the front yard of the academy. He watched genin teams from all over the continent walking in and out of the rather large building as he patiently waited for his own teammates.

The first of his teammates to arrive was the raven-haired Uchiha, who just walked past the swing and towards the main entrance, "Dobe."

"Teme." Naruto replied just as nonchalantly. "Shouldn't we wait for Sakura-chan?" He asked as he noticed Sasuke on autopilot about to enter the first exam without his teammates.

"Hn," He replied not stopping, "I'll meet up with you two inside, it's cold out here."

Naruto snorted, "The king of being cold is phased by mere winter weather and morning dew? Astounding! Next thing you know that stick in your ass will finally come out, huh?"

The Uchiha simply sighed, entering the building whilst muttering, "Idiot." Under his breath.

The blonde smirked before he leaned against the wall of the academy next to the main entrance, resuming his patient waiting. He closed his eyes, deciding that rest would be a good idea until his pink-haired teammate finally showed up.

_Huh?_ Said pink-haired girl thought as she approached the building, _Who's that cutie leaning next to the doors… He has the Leaf headband but I don't think I've ever seen him before…_

Naruto opened a single eye, taking a quick glance at the girl, "Finally Sakura-chan! You take forever; what if we ended up being late, huh?"

_WHAT? _Sakura guffawed inwardly, _There's no way that's Naruto!_ "A-ahh… I'm sorry, I take a while to get ready in the morning…" She replied lamely, "Kaka-sensei actually had to knock on my window to get me up."

Naruto chuckled as he held the door open for her, "Well as long as you're here." He snickered as he caught the faint blush the girl was trying to hide with her hair as she walked past him, "At least he didn't wake you up at Six in the morning." He squinted, "Hey look, I see Sasuke down there." He pointed at the stairs at the end of the hallway, waving with his other hand. They regrouped before heading up the stairs together.

The trio walked down the hall way of the second floor, noticing a rather large commotion happening in the middle of the hall.

"Come on, just let us in already!" shouted a girl with the familiar double-bun hairdo. Tenten charged at the two boys blocking the door, only to get kicked down swiftly.

"You'll never become chuunin with attacks like that!" Said one, a bandage across his face.

"Kids like you die in the chuunin exams, you're clearly not ready if you can't get past us!"

"That is what you think!" said a boy in bright green spandex. He moved at an incredible speed with his fist cocked back. He threw a swift punch, only for it to be avoided and he promptly re-introduced with the floor.

"Sheesh, that's brutal." Naruto commented. He and his team were currently at the rear of the crowd, watching the two getting beat down by the chuunin guarding the door to room '301'. "Come on guys, let's keep moving."

His teammate paid him no heed as Sasuke asserted himself to the front of the crowd. "You will let us pass." The Uchiha commanded, "And you will release that silly genjutsu you have surrounding the area."

The chuunin smirked, "So you noticed it huh?" The sign reading '301' warped slightly, before showing '201'. "Not bad for a genin like yourself…."

His partner quickly lunged at Sasuke, who was also preparing to knock the older ninja out.

"Enough!" The bowl-cut brandishing genin shouted. He had blurred inbetween the two, catching both of their attacks with his hands.

_He caught my attack with his hands…_ Sasuke thought, slightly impressed, _He's almost as fast as Naruto…_ He remembered their brief encounter with the Sand trio.

"This is such a waste of time." Naruto muttered under his breath, walking ahead up the stairs.

"Sasuke-kun, let's go!" Sakura said nervously, "We don't wanna be late right?"

"Hn…" He said nothing, shoving past the crowd and up the stairs. Sakura let out an exasperated sigh.

The green-clad ninja stared curiously at the departing team seven. "Lee, let's go!" His bun-haired teammate called out, standing beside the Hyuuga.

"I will catch up with you guys," the gouken student replied, "There is something I must do first."

(5 minutes later)

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Lee called out, "Fight me! I must test my techniques against a genius of your caliber."

"Sasuke-kun…" The pink-haired girl began, but she was quickly interrupted.

"Don't worry, this'll take five minutes." Sasuke confidently slipped into his stance, his Sharingan flaring to life.

"It is an honour to fight against the Sharingan." Lee stated, before blurring into action. He appeared above Sasuke, in the midst of a spinning kick he was going to bring down onto the Uchiha's head. "Konoha Senpuu (Leaf Whirlwind)!"

To his credit, Sasuke managed to get his arms up in time, but he regretted it when the crushing force was brought down on him. He grunted, pushing the boy off of his arms. Lee did a series of somersaults before landing swiftly on the other end of the room.

"You will not be able to dodge this attack!" Lee announced, untightening the bandages wrapped around his forearms. He blurred from his position, reappearing in front of the Uchiha. He delivered a jaw shattering kick from underneath Sasuke, launching the boy into the air.

_Kage buyo?_ Sasuke said inwardly as the taijutsu user appeared underneath him.

"Goddammit!" came an irritated shout from the side. A black and red figure appeared above the two, grabbing the raven-haired genin by the collar and delivering a devastating kick that sent Lee crashing through the floorboards. "I leave for like five minutes and you're already in shit with the other genin before the exam even starts?" Naruto sighed exasperatedly, dropping the Uchiha unceremoniously on the ground.

"N-Naruto…" The Uchiha grunted, "You bastard! I was about to finish him!" He growled at the blonde, his Sharingan spinning wildly.

"No, you were about get your brains smeared on the ground by his taijutsu!" Naruto countered heatedly. He turned to the other genin who was slowly picking himself up off the floor, "Lee-san, I don't think it's very wise to be fighting before the exam starts."

The green-clad ninja was just staring at the blonde, his mouth slightly agape. "H-hai…" He bowed his head at the trio, "I am sorry for causing any trouble. We should probably head to the exams now, it would not be wise to appear late!" He gave a salute before running off, "Good luck, I will see you during the test!"

"What a weirdo…" Sakura muttered as they watched the exuberant teen run off. _I have to admit, the way he broke up the fight was pretty impressive though__._

"Dammit!" Sasuke shouted, his fists shaking in anger. He looked at his teammates before sighing in defeat, "He's right, let's just go."

Naruto gave a small appreciative smile, and the three walked off towards the large door with '301' written on top with large letters. As they came near, a large poof of smoke stopped them from moving any farther.

"Ohayou team!" Kakashi greeted with an eye smile.

"Kakashi-sensei?" The trio stated in unison. "What're you doing here?" Sakura asked.

"I just wanted to wish you guys luck is all!" He said. Kakashi looked at the three of his genin before continuing, "You guys have a hard road ahead of you. Don't give up, always keep your head up and remember," He smiled at the three, "You have teammates for a reason, don't forget to rely on each other for help!"

Team Seven looked at each other, each one sending each other a small smile (Even Sasuke!)

"Good luck, I believe in you guys!"

And with that, they swung the doors open with great confidence.

* * *

><p>(Jounin Lounge)<p>

"Sheesh, you sure know how to give a good motivation speech." Asuma stated off handedly, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Hey, it's part of my job." Kakashi replied just as nonchalantly, flipping through a page in his book. Asuma shrugged, enjoying his cigarette.

That is, until it was smacked out of his mouth by an irritated Kurenai, "I really wish you smoke indoors, it smells disgusting in here!"

"Hey, you know wha-"

"**DYNAMIC ENTRY!**" shouted a voice at the top of his lungs. Kakashi was promptly sent crashing into wall by an extremely powerful kick to the face from the one and only Maito Gai. "This makes it 53-53 my eternal rival Hatake Kakashi! I shall now take the lead by having my genin team beat yours in the chuunin exams!"

Kakashi sighed, picking himself and his book off the ground, "I'm sorry Gai, did you say something? I'm afraid you knocked away my hearing with that kick."

"**DAMN YOU AND YOUR HIP ATTITUDE, KAKASHI!**_**"**_ Gai screamed at the ceiling.

* * *

><p><em>Now this brings back memories<em>, thought Naruto as they entered the classroom filled with chuunin-hopefuls. He gave a smirk as he surveyed the room. There were hundreds of genin already sitting there quietly glaring at the group of rookies, giving them their best dose of killer intent.

"Sasuke-kuuuuunn!" cooed a blonde girl, ditching her teammates to run up to the Uchiha.

"Hey, back off Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted heatedly, jumping in front of her teammate, "He doesn't want your ugly pig face!"

"Well he can't see my beauty if your big-ass billboard forehead is in the way!" Ino growled back.

Sasuke and Naruto sighed at the two's antics, making a great effort to ignore them. They joined up with the more quiet group of Konoha genin, who were clumped up near the front of the room.

"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba called out, waving his arms back and forth. "You finally made it huh!" The blonde grinned as he ran up to his group of Academy friends.

_Now I haven't seen these guys in a long…_ He thought rather sadly. Kiba and Chouji had met bloody ends if Naruto remembered correctly. Shikamaru was one of the only ones of the original Konoha Eleven to survive the great war. "Of course, I wouldn't miss out on such a great opportunity to whoop your ass now, would I?"

They shared a barking laugh before they were interrupted by a silver haired leaf genin, who had seemingly popped out of nowhere. Naruto growled as he saw Kabuto approach, "Hey, you rookies gotta quiet down," He began, "You're gaining all this unwanted attention from everyone in the room."

Naruto eyed him warily as Sasuke spoke up, "And who might you be?"

"I am Yakushi Kabuto." The spectacled 'genin' began, "I'm just trying to help some fellow Leaf-nin out."

"How could you possibly help us?" Shikamaru asked, suspicious.

"I've failed the chuunin exams seven times," Kabuto stated, "But that means I've gained information on most of the ninja in this exam with these." He pulled out a set of cards.

"Uhh… Is it really wise to be gambling our money away before the exams start?" Sakura said.

"No, these are Ninja Info Cards." He stated matter-of-factly, "By channeling a little bit of chakra into them it shows current information on most shinobi in this exam."

Sasuke quickly seized this opportunity, "Give me information on Rock Lee and Sabaku no Gaara!" He then glanced warily at his teammate, "… and Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto was slightly taken aback by this, and Sakura was more than a little surprised.

"Rock Lee," Kabuto began, "He's been a Genin for a year now, his teammates being Higurashi Tenten and Hyuuga Neji. His jounin-sensei is the renowned Taijutsu master Maito Gai. Lee himself is extremely proficient in Taijutsu. He has completed 168 D-rank missions, 23 C-ranks and a single B-rank mission."

The Uchiha was satisfied with the information. "Sabaku no Gaara." Kabuto continued, "He's a rookie like you guys, his teammates being his brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari. Not much is known about his abilities, other than his complete control over sand. He's completed 0 D-rank missions, 0 C-rank missions, 30 B-Rank missions, 58 A-Rank missions and 1 S-rank."

The rookies were stunned, the same thoughts going through their heads, _an S-Rank?_

"And Uzumaki Naruto," Kabuto started again, "I don't see the usefulness in asking me about your own teammate, but here goes. He's a rookie like you guys, his teammates being Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. His jounin-sensei is the renowned Sharingan no Hatake Kakashi. Naruto finished dead-last in his graduating class. He's average in taijutsu and ninjutsu, and has no talent in genjutsu whatsoever. He's done 133 D-Ranks, and a C-rank that was upgraded to an A-rank mission."

_Current information my ass_, the Uchiha thought, going back to the incidents where the Uzumaki had shown amazing speed.

Kabuto was about to speak up when a large booming voice came from the front of the room.

"All right, listen up you maggots!" shouted a scary looking bald man, "I'm Morino Ibiki and I'm you first proctor for the first part of the Chuunin Exams! Everyone get the hell to your designated seats."

After a couple minutes of rustling the genin were all seated in random spots around the room.

"All right, this first part of the Exam is a written test!" He announced, "First and foremost, whoever disobeys whatever I say _fails_! No questions asked." He held up a stack of papers, which he handed to a bunch of chuunin that passed them around the room. "You will not turn the paper over until I tell you to do so, is that clear?"

Sakura paled, _Oh no… This is the worst possible test for Naruto! He won't be able to handle a written test…_

"Now, the test is made of ten questions, each one counting as one point…" Ibiki began, "But this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all 10 questions you keep your original 10 points. If you get 3 wrong for example, you'll be brought down to seven points."

_So failing outright would mean zero points…_ Sasuke thought.

"And secondly, this is a team test!" The scar-faced man said, "Each team will be competing to see who can hold the most points of the original thirty."

_So even if Naruto fails completely, we'll still be able to pass…_ Sakura thought, relieved.

"Any persons caught cheating will have 2 points deducted from each offense! If one of your teammates loses all their points, that person and his team will be asked to leave!"

_We're screwed._ The pink-haired genin thought, lowering her head in shame. Naruto caught this out of the corner of his eye and facepalmed.

_I wasn't that bad back then was I?_

"We'll be keeping eyes on you punks!" Ibiki continued scratching things on the board, "The test will last for one hour. The tenth and final question I will announce 45 minutes into the exam. Everyone ready?"

Team seven, minus Naruto, gulped.

"Begin!" And with that, the scratching of pencils and the occasional coughs filled the air.

* * *

><p>Naruto flipped his paper over, chuckling inwardly as he scanned the nine questions, <em>Even after all this time, these questions are still gonna give me a little trouble. I don't even think I've ever even encountered the situations depicted in the questions! What blasphemy…<em>

_I see… _Sasuke thought, scanning the room, _They're encouraging us to cheat… a good chuunin wouldn't get caught._ He smirked, _Sharingan! I hope you've figured it out by now, Naruto!_

Sakura glared at her sheet, _I doubt anyone in this room can even answer these questions other than myself! Come on Naruto… _She glanced at the blond, who was currently face down on his desk. _Oh no… he's given up!_

Hinata glanced over at Naruto, who was currently sleeping on his paper. Light snores could be heard, and she could've sworn there was a small pile of drool seeping from the corner of his mouth. _Oh Naruto-kun…_ she giggled.

The room was completely silent, other than the occasional rustling. It was a purposeful silence, as many of the genin had started to figure out the true purpose of the exam, cheating in their own unique ways.

As they all began furiously writing down answers, the clock kept ticking closer and closer to the forty-five minute mark.

_Done!_ Sakura thought proudly, slamming her pencil on this desk.

She glanced at Naruto, who still had his head on the desk. _He's been like that for an hour… what's he doing?_

Said blond, however, was having a rather pleasant day dream consisting of him, the beautiful Mizukage, Gaara's sister, Anko and a large bed. He let out a quiet, sleep-induced perverted giggle before reverting back to small snores.

"All right, genin, listen up!" came Ibiki's booming voice from the front once again, "It's time for 10th question!"

This awoke the blond from his slumber, who's head bolted off the desk. The test sticking to his face via drool was ripped off as he wiped his mouth off with his sleeve.

_Finally…_ Sasuke thought.

"Now before I tell you the final question, I'd like to go over some added rules for it." Ibiki said, "You must choose whether to take it or not."

"Choose?" Came Temari's voice from Naruto's right, "What if we decide not to take it?"

"Then all your points are reduced to zero, and you and your team fail!"

"Obviously we'll choose to take it!" A random genin shouted out.

"But there's a catch…" Ibiki continued, "If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, you will never have to the chance to become chuunin ever again!"

The genin guffawed at the scar-faced jounin.

"That's fucking retarded!" Kiba shouted out, "There are plenty of people here who have taken this exam before!"

"You guys are just unlucky," The proctor laughed, "They didn't have me proctoring the exam those other years; these are my rules this time around! I'm giving those of you not confident to take it a way out: Raise your hand and you will promptly be escorted back outside."

Sakura gulped, _Oh no… This is bad._ She glanced at Naruto, _Why isn't he raising his hand? What about your dream to become Hokage you idiot…?_ She gave a small smile, _I don't want it to be crushed… If you aren't going to lift your hand, I will._ Just as she made to lift her hand, her blonde hair teammate spoke up.

"Sakura-chan, don't do it." He said, turning around to face her. He gave her a look and a small smile that made her turn redfaced, "Have confidence in me, I guarantee you we'll make it through this without a hitch."

"W-what?" She stammered, unable to bring her hand up. He gave her a heartmelting smile before turning around to face the proctor. _How did he… He turned me into goo just by smiling at me! _She growled inwardly, _I wonder what happened in the last few days to make him so charming._ She huffed, crossing her arms.

One by one, various genin stood up, caving under the considerable pressure.

"50, fail. Take your teammates with you."

"103, fail. 111 and 75 fail too."

"I'm sorry Gennai, Inoho! I can't do it!" "43, fail!"

Soon, there were a lot less than half of the genin originally seated. They were sweating bullets and quivering under the extremely thick atmosphere.

"Well, all you brave souls that decided to stay…" The torture expert said, "**Passed!**"

The genin were slackjawed. "We pass? Already?" Sakura cried out, "What about the tenth question?"

"There was no such thing," Ibiki said with grin. "Or you could say those decisions were the tenth question!"

"Are you saying the other 9 question were pointless then?" Temari asked.

"No, they had already served their intended purpose." Ibiki began to elaborate, "They were to test you individual information gathering abilities. As you could tell, these questions were not meant for mere genin to answer. Thus, most of you came to the conclusion that in order to pass, you had to cheat! So, we had a few chuunin in the classroom who already knew all of the answers to help you guys out."

_Hn… As I thought._ The last Uchiha thought with a smirk.

"But those who cheated poorly failed, of course." He started to undo his hitai-ate, revealing a gruesome set of scars, burns and screwholes on his head, "Information is at times more important than life, and on missions and on the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it. If you're noticed trying to gather that information, you never know if it's going to be accurate or not!" He glanced around the room. "Remember this: Information is a powerful tool for you and your village. This clearly segregated those that didn't have the right abilities."

"But I still don't understand the 10th question." Temari asked again.

"Ah, the 10th question was the true purpose of this test." The proctor said, "Obviously there were two painfully difficult choices. To remain a genin forever or take the exam next year; a true leap of faith." He turned around, drawing a diagram on the board, "Take this situation for example: Your mission is to infiltrate an enemy stronghold and steal a secret document. The amount of enemies and the level of their abilities inside is unknown."

Naruto's visage darkened, as he had experienced countless of these situations in the war, burning buildings and agonizing screams flashing through his mind.

"Do you refuse it because you don't want you or your comrades to die?" He gave a hard look at the genin, "Of course not! In order to be a chuunin, these are the decisions you will be forced to take. Those who don't take chances and put their destinies on the line, constantly walking around with mindset of 'taking it again next year'…" He paused, "Are pieces of trash who don't deserve chuunin!"

The genin looked at Ibiki confidently, a new resolve blazing in each of them.

"Congratulations on making it through the first test of the Chuunin exam, I wish you guys all luck in the next test!"

No one had time to at least digest the words when a black ball burst through the window, sending shards of glass everywhere. A large banner was unfolded behind a woman attached by kunai and wires reading, 'The Proctor for the Second Exam: The Sexy, Single and Dangerous Mitarashi Anko!'

"All right you brats, I'm Mitarashi Anko and I'm your proctor for the next exam!" She stated in a loud and obnoxious voice, ignoring the leers she was gaining from the male populace in the room, "Everyone follow me outside."

_Good grief…_ Sakura thought, following everyone else out the back door, _She's just like Naruto._

_As exuberant and outgoing as ever, Anko._ Naruto said, looking at her with a thoughtful and longing gaze.

The mission to extract Anko and Yamato from Akatsuki's mountain base had been completely successful… but completely disastrous. He was a Captain then. Naruto honestly could not count how many men had died under his command, but at the same time he could not count how many more had survived due to his success in most of the important missions he completed.

_It's always about the mission… When one of my men die, I always told myself it happened to save the lives of 2, 10, maybe 20 others._ That was how he rationalized; he bit back the deaths convincing himself itself it was for the greater good.

_You can't save everyone._ Jiraiya had told him once. He didn't realize how true it was until being placed in the middle of the most intense war the Elemental Nations had ever seen.

Before he knew it however, they were outside of a large fenced off forest with various signs plastered along it. 'Keep out!' 'Danger!'

Anko chuckled before she turned around to face the genin, "This, kiddies…" She began, pausing for dramatic effect and waving her hand towards the imposing greenery, "is the Forest of Death."

* * *

><p>Chapter 2 end.<p>

* * *

><p>Character Statistics: Uchiha Sasuke (Pre Time-warp)<br>Age: 21  
>Rank: International Criminal (S-Rank)<br>Affiliation: Akatsuki, Uchiha clan  
>Signature Jutsu: Chidori, Mangekyou Sharingan, Kirin<p>

Biography:

A member of the once powerful and once prestigious Uchiha Clan. He always walked under the shadow of his elder brother, Itachi. A once cheerful and happy-go-lucky boy, everything changed the night his brother decided to murder the entire clan. He would then defect from Konoha in the future, becoming an international criminal after attacking all five Kages at the Five Kage Summit before the start of the War. Once Naruto's best friend, even the Uzumaki himself gave up on trying to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf. Sasuke would then go on to become Madara's (almost) second in command during the war, becoming feared on the battlefield due to his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Stats (Out of 5):  
>Ninjutsu: 5<br>Taijutsu: 4  
>Genjutsu: 5<br>Intelligence: 4  
>Strength: 3<br>Speed: 5  
>Stamina: 3<br>Handseals: 5

**Total: 34**

* * *

><p>Ye. How'd you like it? Sorry if there wasn't much action, but I was able to explain what was needed to be explained. So it was kind of a retelling of the original first test buuut the next chapter should be action-packed and filled with all kinds of bloody twists.<p>

Don't forget to give me any ideas and suggestions you might have!

Read, review and favourite if you like it so far.

Breezie, out!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... not yet anyway. BWAHAHAAHAHAHAAHHA**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Like Old Times<p>

"This, kiddies," Anko began, waving her hand towards the rather imposing forest, "Is Training Area 44... Also known as the forest of death."

The genin just stared at her and the forest. The trees were taller than most buildings in Konoha; if you craned your head all the way you still wouldn't be able to see the top. As Sakura squinted at the canopy, she could see large flocks of birds of prey circling the sky.

Naruto just snicked at the examiners antics, imitating a mouth with one of his hands.

"A funny one, huh?" The snake-mistress said, smirking. A kunai was ejected from her sleeve into her hand, which she threw with blinding speed at Naruto's head.

The blonde's hand snapped out like a whip, seizing the projectile in mid-air and twirled it around his finger. "You could've really hurt someone with that!" He countered sarcastically.

Her bloodthirsty grin grew wider, "A funny one with skills...?" She gave him an unnerving wink, "I'm keeping my eye on you."

Sakura and Sasuke just looked at the madwoman, both of them gulping. Naruto just shrugged it off.

"Anyways," She started, "I'm gonna be handing out these liability forms." She pulled out a rather large stack of papers from underneath her trenchcoat, "There's gonna be deaths in this test, and if you don't sign these forms it'll be my responsibility."

She handed the stack of papers to one of the genin who promptly began to pass them around.

_Deaths, huh?_ Sasuke thought, scanning the sheet of paper he was given.

"You can sign your papers at the booth over there once I'm done explaining the rules of the second test." She cleared her throat, catching the attention of the genin reading over the sheets, "To put it simply, the second test is the test of Ultimate Survival."

_Ultimate survival? How troublesome..._ Shikamaru thought, grabbing a sheet from the pile being passed around.

"The area the test is taking place in is a fenced off forest 20 kilometers in diameter. In the center of the forest is a rather large tower, surrounded by rivers and of course, the forest. From the main gates to the center tower is 10 kilometers. You'll be pit in the ultimate survival of the fittest style test in a battle for these scrolls."

"A scroll battle?"

"That's right," Anko confirmed, pulling out two scrolls. One had the kanji for heaven, the other for earth. "You'll be battling for these two scrolls. There are 90 people here, which means 30 teams." She showed the scrolls to the genin, "Each team will get either a heaven or an earth scroll: The objective is to make it to the center tower with both scrolls in your team's position."

_Ridiculous,_ Shikamaru thought again.

"There's a time limit, however, of exactly 5 days."

"5 days? What about dinner?" Chouji cried out.

"You're on your own for this one." Anko stated with a grin, "the forest is filled with food! Just watch out for poisonous plants, man eating tigers, giant spiders and whatnot... Anyways, It's guaranted that less than half of the teams will pass. As the days wear on, the distance to your goal gets further and further. The area will be crawling with enemies, so there won't be any rest for the weary."

The genin gulped.

"Those who don't make it to the tower within the time limit or without both scrolls are disqualified. Those who have a teammate killed or lost are disqualified." She had two fingers out, pondering the third rule, "Oh and you can't quit in the middle, you'll be stuck there for five days whether you like it or not. Remember: You can't look inside the scroll!"

"and if we do?" a genin asked.

"Then there'll be a surprise waiting for you." She said with a smirk, "Anyways, that's it for rules. Go to the booth to sign your sheets and exchange them for your scroll."

As the genin lined up ready to enter the booth, she decided to give one final word of advice. "Don't die." She said, laughing.

The first team entered the booth to retrieve their scroll, and a curtain closed behind them.

_I see..._ Sasuke thought, observing the rather long line up, _You can't tell which team gets which scroll. It'll be a complete surprise_.

As team 7 walked to their booth however, they did not notice a team of Iwa nin looking at them hungrily.

"Oi, Taku." One of them said to the other. "Look at the blond one with the red scarf."

Taku looked over the crowd of genin, "Shit eh? He looks just like that fucking blonde demon my dad showed us! What do you think Maki?"

"What luck!" The lone female of the team said, "Not only do we get to kill a few snobby leaf punks but we get to kill the offspring of the Yellow Flash too?"

The first one laughed, "I can't wait to run into them in the forest…"

(20 minutes later)

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were soon standing outside of their designated gate: Gate 12. Naruto pocketed the Heaven scroll into his hip pouch.

The blonde was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet, brimming with excitement. _I finally get to test my abilities out! This'll be fun hehe..._

Sasuke smirked at the blonde, and Sakura just looked extremely nervous.

"All right brats!" Anko's voice was heard over the intercom. "Exam starts in 3..."

Kiba and his team were all crouched ready to pounce out of the gates.

"2..." Naruto adjusted his scarf so it covered up half of his face, and tightened up the various pouches and straps he was wearing.

"1..." Everyone was one edge.

"The second part of the chuunin exam starts now!" The gates swung open, and the 30 genin teams bolted from their positions.

* * *

><p><strong>Day One - Intial Start Time: 4pm<strong>

(Team 8 - 9km from Tower - 4:47pm)

A trio of genin sat on a branch overlooking Kiba's team.

"Hinata, Shino, don't you think we should set up some traps?" Kiba said a bit too loud.

"These kids are idiots..." One of the hidden genin said, "They're standing out in the open."

"I believe that would be a rather wise decision." Shino agreed, nodding his head. The dog user smirked.

_These guys are the idiots if they really think we'd be out in the open... We sensed them before they even got near us!_

"Let's pounce on em no- huh?" The genin was horrified as there was a giant leech sticking out of his neck. "What the fuck is this?"

"That is a Konoha Jumping Leech my friend!" Kiba shouted out into the tree. "They have a really nasty bite, especially if there a whole lot of em!" As if on cue, hundreds of leeches dropped onto the unknown genin.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Their screams echoed throughout the forest as they were captured into a net filled with leeches.

"Damn... they have an Earth Scroll too." Kiba said, pulling said scroll from one of the genin's pockets.

"Let's k-keep moving..." Hinata suggested. Team 8 looked at each other, before bounding off.

* * *

><p>(Team 7 - 9km from Tower - 4:50pm)<p>

"T-that was a human scream wasn't it?" Sakura stammered, clearly nervous. Team 7 had stopped for a break in a small clearing in the forest once they had heard the scream.

Naruto sighed as he craned his head to try to look at the canopy. _Man, no light gets through here at all..._

"Don't worry," Sasuke said, "We'll need to get the drop on someone before they get the drop on us."

"It's too late, looks like someone's found us already." Naruto said rather calmly, his hands behind his head, "Sasuke, at your seven!"

A strange rain-nin burst out of the bushes from behind the Uchiha, unleash a furious flurry of kunai and shuriken. Sasuke grabbed Sakura as they jumped out of the way.

Naruto clapped his hands, seal-lessly and wordlessly releasing a weak wind jutsu to knock away the projectiles harmlessly. "Sasuke!" the blonde shouted as he blurred across the clearing, kicking the Rain-nin in his chin, shattering his re-breather and launching him into the air. Before the blonde knew it, however, the ninja's teammates had burst from opposite sides of him with umbrellas.

Sasuke, who was 10 metres above his blonde teammate had just finished weaving through his own handseals, "Katon: Goukyakuu no Jutsu (Fire release: Great fireball)!" He blasted away the rain-nin who Naruto had launched into the air with a large fireball, knocking him away and leaving him with intense burns.

Naruto smirked as the rain nin appeared above him with their umbrellas, ready to smash the blonde's face in. _Rookies. _He swatted both of their umbrellas out of the way with relative ease, delivering two lightning quick jabs to their stomachs. There was a slight shockwave, and the two genin were sent rocketing through the forest.

The blonde took the time to admire his handiwork: two rather long pathways of broken trees and shrubbery. _Nice to know I didn't get any weaker hehe._

Sasuke was just looking down on his teammate from his perch in the trees, _What the fuck was that?_ He thought alarmingly, _I've never seen him use jutsu like that before... and he took care of those two Rain-nin in 30 seconds..._

Sakura was thinking almost the exact same thoughts, _That was insane... we definitely need to talk with Naruto once these exams are over._

(5 minutes later)

The Uchiha grunted as he hopped down into the clearing, regrouping with his blonde teammate. "They had another heaven scroll," He began, showing him the scroll he had grabbed from the charred remains of the poor foreign ninja.

"Let's keep it as an extra," Naruto concluded. The other two nodded. Just as they were about to jump into the trees again, a soft growl was heard. Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto, then his stomach. "Hey!" He shouted indignantly, "I swear to god that wasn't me!"

"Then what was it..?" Sakura said, dread evident in her voice. The growl got a bit louder, then a bit faster. Naruto backed up.

"Shit..." Sasuke said, his Sharingan spinning lazily. "We've got company."

Slowly, hundreds of pairs of red eyes surrounded the clearing they were in. "A lot of company." Naruto corrected, "Looks like we landed right in bear territory."

"... Bears?" Sakura repeated, her lip quivering.

"Yeah," Naruto confirmed, a small grin on his face, "Don't worry, they're not that big of a deal. We're lucky we're not dealing with those ridiculous giant spiders..."

One of the beasts strode out of the darkness. It was 7 feet tall, had sharp red eyes and was covered in extremely feral deep red fur. It's mouth was adorned with razor sharp yellow-ish teeth, lined with drool. It seemed to put on a feral grin at the prospect of having a meal.

"Shit!" Sasuke swore, "What do we do, what do we do?"

Naruto smirked, his hands in his favourite handseal. "You guys don't have to do anything!" The beasts slowly started leaking into clearing. "You boys hungry? There's hundreds of me to go around! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The whole clearing erupted in smoke. The trees surrounded the clearing were littered with hundreds of black and red clad ninjas, each of them dual-wielding kunais.

"Guys, my clones are gonna make a distraction," Naruto announced to his teammates, "When they give the signal, everyone follow me!"

"What's the signal?" Sakura cried out.

"You'll know it when you see it!" And with that, the hundreds of clones jumped into the clearing, pouncing on the beasts and stabbing them repeatedly. "Go, go, go!"

Team 7 quickly vacated the clearing, racing into the trees. Little did they know they had another set of beady eyes watching them.

* * *

><p>(Team 10 - 8km from Tower - 5:37pm )<p>

"I don't know if it's lucky or unlucky that we haven't ran into a team yet." Ino stated as they bounded through the trees at a rather moderate pace.

"You troublesome woman," Shikamaru began, "Don't jinx us yet! I wanna find a nice, safe spot to camp out before it gets dark out at least..."

Chouji nodded, "I agree. The sooner we camp out the sooner I can start looking for something to eat!"

The blonde sighed, "For once I can't argue with that, I'm starving!"

The continued along the trees until Shikamaru signaled for them to stop. "Wait, do you hear that?" The Nara's ears began to twitch.

"I don't hear anything..." Ino began, "Wait... no I do. What is that?"

Shikamaru leaned forward, hearing a low rumbling sound. It began to get louder and louder...

"Fuck, everyone move out of the way!" He ordered, and Team 10 promptly jumped to the side as a massive vaccuum of air had just ripped through the forest. It completely tore apart the area they were sitting on.

"What the hell was that?" Ino questioned in a harsh whisper as they were all ducking behind a bush.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't aiming for us. Look." Shikamaru pointed at the massive, barren crevice littered with trees. A random team of Taki nin were in various painful positions along it.

"W-what the fuck was that..." One of the waterfall nin managed to groan out, pushing a rather large log off of him.

"It's those goddamn Oto nin!" his female teammate groaned out just as painfully. "Zuko!" She limped over to the last teammate who was face down in the middle of indentation. "Zuko, get up! We have to go!"

"Your teammate's dead..." Said a deep voice. The next thing the taki nin new, they were surrounded by their offenders: The Sound Trio.

"And now, you are too!" Said a female voice. Kin walked up to the crippled taki nin, and swiftly brought her kunai down on the girl's head. Another sound of a body being dropped was heard as Dosu swiftly executed the other live one.

"Hehehe, my zankuuha really did a number on these kids huh?" said the third oto nin, walking up to his team, cracking his neck. He walked up to the originally dead one, sifting through his pouch. "Heh, these kids got the scroll we were looking for." Zaku showed his teammates the earth scroll, before passing it to his mummy-looking teammate.

"Now we just gotta find and murder that Uchiha." Dosu concluded. "All right, let's go look for these kids, they should be rather easy prey!" And with that, they bounded off.

Shikamaru was horrified at what they just saw. "Shit..." He muttered. The genius glanced at his teammates, who were just as horrified. "I was actually planning on going for Naruto's team first; they seemed the weakest. I don't know if it's such a good idea anymore."

Chouji gulped, "I dunno Shikamaru... Who else can we get a scroll off of?"

"No one!" Ino said, before the genius could say anything, "We have to get to billboard brow's team first! I'm almost positive they have the heaven scroll we need."

The Nara sighed, "How troublesome..." He stood up, "Look, we'd better get moving. I don't wanna run into the wild life around here."

His teammate nodded, and they too were off again.

* * *

><p>(Team 7 - Small River, 6.5km from Tower - 10:13pm)<p>

Naruto stood over a small river in a rather secluded clearing in the middle of the forest. Sakura looked exhausted, so he deemed this area a rather sound place to camp out for the night. His team was currently sitting in a large, hollowed out tree.

"Remember, no fires." He ordered the two. It was a smart idea, they couldn't risk being ambushed by another team. The water rippled slightly as he stood on top of it, looking at his renewed face in his reflection.

This time, he could change things. He knew for a fact that Orochimaru, being the weakest of the sannin, was no match for him in his prime, so he was fairly confident that he could keep up with the creepy pedophile this time around. It was strange, he remembered running into the freaky snake Sannin during the first few hours of the exam... Why hadn't Orochimaru shown up yet?

The blonde decided not to dwell on it, swiftly chucking three kunai into the water and impaling their dinner. He sat on the riverbed, skinning and gutting the fish with practiced ease. If there was one thing Jiraiya had taught him over their travels, it was how to survive in the wilderness with nothing but your bare hands.

He smiled fondly at the memory. Jiraiya had led him deep into one of Hi no Kuni's forests, and when he thought they were 'in-the-middle-of-nowhere' enough, quickly ditched the boy to fend for himself for a week. He would never take ramen or a shower for granted ever again.

Naruto impaled the skinless and boneless slabs of fish onto a trio of pointed sticks and walked back to their campout.

"I hope you guys like sashimi," He said with a foxy grin, handing them the food. The two took the meal gratefully (er, ungratefully in Sasuke's case) and devoured it.

"Where did you learn to prepare food like this?" Sakura asked, taking a bite out of the raw meat.

"Eh, it's easy." Naruto said, shrugging. "I guess you could say I had to fend for myself more often than not. I'm good at staying alive."

Sasuke eyed him warily, taking a huge bite out of his fish. "Who should take the first watch?" He said, changing the subject.

"I'll leave some kage bunshin out in a perimeter the whole night, so it doesn't really matter who takes the first watch." Naruto said, "They'll be keeping watch and I have pretty keen senses so they'll notify the person on watch, or if I'm on watch they'll dispell, so they can wake us up."

Sakura nodded, "That's a pretty good idea Naruto."

The blonde shrugged again, "Kage bunshin are a lot more useful than just being fodder."

"Well if that's the case, you should take first watch and get those bunshin set up." Sasuke suggested.

Naruto nodded. "All right. We'll switch watches every 3 hours. Sakura you'll be next after me." He stood up to leave the two, "Get as much rest as you can, we'll be out an hour before day break hits." His teammates nodded. "G'night."

The blonde walked out into the moonlight, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Ten clones appeared around him, who nodded curtly and disappeared. The hollowed out tree his team was camping out in was about 15 meters away from the river bed, and he chose to sit down there once again.

He could hear nothing but the slight rustling of leaves and the trickling of the stream. The shinobi's arm whipped out, seizing a leaf from mid-air. "Time to get to work." he muttered, before attempting to split the leaf with his chakra.

* * *

><p>(Team Gai - 6.5km away from tower - 11:47pm)<p>

Lee, Tenten and Neji sat on a clump of intertwined branches high above the ground.

"All right, the sun's gone." Neji stated, "at this point most teams should be resting." His teammates nodded. "We've spent the whole day gather food and water. We'll attack a team now as planned."

"I suggest we split up and scout the area." Lee said. The Hyuuga nodded.

"Good idea. We'll split up and scout for now." He threw a kunai in the branch he was standing on with a loud 'thunk'. "We return here in 30 minutes, got it?"

"Got it!"

"Roger!"

"All right, break!"

* * *

><p><strong>Day Two<strong>

(Team 7 - 6.5km away from tower - 12:05am)

"Yes.." Naruto rejoiced quietly, splitting the leaf with his chakra. "Now we're making progress here hehe... Now if only there was a waterfall around here."

He was about to stand up and actually look for one when one of his clones dispelled. And another... And another... until all of them were gone.

_What the hell..._ He thought alarmingly, _They were all killed silently. How was that even possible_? That's when the gears clicked in his. The only ninja that would be able to sneak up on him in this forest at this moment was...

"Orochimaru." Naruto said, the creepy grass nin who the snake bastard had taken over was standing in the middle of the clearing behind the blonde.

"Impressive..." He stated in his creepy man/woman voice, "Not only did you detect I was here, but you saw underneath my disguise too. I knew you were different the moment I saw you take out those Rain children."

"You followed my team here, didn't you?" Naruto asked, not expecting an answer.

"So what if I did?" The Snake sannin gave a creepy laugh. "Where's Sasuke-kun? I have to speak with him for a moment."

"I'm not letting you get Sasuke." Naruto stated. The snake sannin laughed once again.

"You're right, cause I'll just take him for myself!" The blonde quickly dive rolled as a mass of snakes erupted from Orochimaru's sleeve.

He sprinted towards the snake sannin, using his superior speed to surprise the older shinobi. He blurred infront of him, rearing his fist back to punch a hole through Orochimaru's abdomen. The sannin deftly caught the blonde's fist, twisting it before throwing Naruto into the trees with crash.

"A speedy one aren't you?" He stated with a grin, "You can't possibly hope to defeat me with speed alone!" the Naruto that was currently buried under the trees disappeared with a poof. Orochimaru barely had time to dodge as the ground he was standing was turned into a crater by Naruto's fist. The sannin did a series of backflips before landing and sticking his arms out. "Sen'eijashu (Hidden Snake Hands)!"

Naruto was sequentially pummelled by several snakes before being launched backwards and sent skipping across the floor. He managed to regain his footing by doing a series of somersaults. Blurring through handseals he stuck and open palm out, "Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu (Wind Release: Cutting winds)!" an extremely powerful galestorm of cutting winds was released, forcing Orochimaru to burrow under the ground. His jutsu had completely pummeled the ground and the forest behind it, leaving large indentations of where the wind blades had hit and several downed trees.

The blonde quickly had to vacate his position however, as large earthen spears had suddenly erupted from the ground. He ran in a zig-zag pattern, narrowly missing each one. He spotted the snake user across the clearing, his hands planted on the ground controlling where the spikes had popped up. Naruto used his momentum to drop onto his back and skid along the ground holding his hands in a familiar seal, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He called upon several clones as he back flipped on his feet.

The clones forced the snake sannin to release his hold on his Doryuusou (Rising Earth Spear), and he started swatting the clones off. _Good... a distraction._ Naruto sat down into his lotus position, getting in touch with the earth and it's denizens. _Come on clones, hold on a bit longer_.

"Your clones are skilled enough to become annoying!" Orochimaru laughed, dodging another powerful punch and swatting the clone into the forest. The sannin jumped backwards before biting his thumb, "Let's see if you can dodge this!" He weaved through several hand seals before calling out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"

A humongous puff of smoke covered the clearing. The next thing Naruto new, he was face-to-face with one of Orochimaru's giant snakes. He stopped its charge with his bare hands; akin to a brick wall. With a mighty roar, he tossed the massive serpent over the tree line.

_What a guy..._ Orochimaru thought, more and more impressed by this blond 'genin'. The snake landed in the forest with a deafening crash and boom, covering several kilometers of the forest with smoke and debris. He was sure that had woken up half of the genin teams.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted out, running out of the hollow tree with Sakura by his side. "What the hell was that?" The blonde turned to face them, his eyes covered with an orange pigment and his pupils were gold with horizontal irises.

"Stay back!" He ordered, motioning towards the man standing at the other end of the clearing, "This guy is an S-Rank criminal, and he's here to get you Sasuke!"

"Me..?" He said, taken aback, "If he's S-Ranked why the hell are you fighting him by yourself?"

They heard a laugh from the other end, "Naruto-kun... You are quite the interesting one. If you didn't lack the Sharingan I would've chosen you for the Cursed Seal of Heaven instead."

Naruto just glared at him.

"A smart move," The sannin began, "Sending one of your Kage Bunshins to alert the ANBU. I'm afraid in the time it'll take for them to get here Sasuke will be mine!" His neck stretched out, bolting towards the trio with an alarming speed.

"I don't think so!" Naruto called out, grabbing Orochimaru's head by his hair before he could reach the Uchiha. He looked the sannin directly in the eyes, a shocked look adorning the snake-user's features.

"I-impossible..." Orochimaru stammered out, looking into the blondes eyes, "You're a Sage...?" Naruto was about to rip the older man's head right off his neck, until the snake's arm had stretched and delivered a solid blow to Naruto's stomach. Flecks of spit flew out of Naruto's mouth as he was sent skidding across the ground again. "Now, Sasuke…" His head retracted back to his body, and he was slowly walking towards the Uchiha and the pinkette.

_I can't breathe…_ Sasuke thought, _What is this? Genjutsu?_ He saw Sakura drop to her knees, a shocked look on her face. _No… it's just his murderous intent creating images of death in our heads!_

Orochimaru laughed. "Come Sasuke, I expected more of the great Uchiha!"

_Move, dammit! Move!_ Sasuke watched as the snake Sannin pull out shuriken. He threw them in a flash. _Yes!_ The Uchiha's Sharingan flared to life as he quickly tackled Sakura and himself away from the trajectory of the spinning stars of death.

"Good job, you managed to fight back against my murderous intent." He gave the kids a creepy smile, "Sasuke, come with me… I can give you power. The power you need to kill your brother."

"W-what..?" Sasuke was wide-eyed.

"You heard me correctly…" The sannin said alluringly. He motioned with his hands, "I can give you all the power you seek, even the power you need to fight the great Uchiha Itachi."

_Power… He can give me power?_

"All you have to do is come with me…" Sasuke looked contemplative, and actually started to take a step towards Orochimaru. Before he made that full step, a blur shot past him.

"Don't listen to this bastard, Sasuke!"

Naruto reappeared in front of the snake, his signature jutsu spinning wildly in his hand, "Die, Orochimaru!" He pushed the blue orb into the snake sannin's abdomen, "Rasengan!" He felt the ground crack beneath his feet. A huge shockwave rippled through the forest before the orb of chakra exploded, launching the sannin through the air, spinning wildly. He slammed into a tree, exploding into rock and dust.

_Doton bunshin?_ The blonde thought. Orochimaru reappeared at the other end of the clearing.

"The Fourth's signature jutsu, huh? I should've known… the resemblance is uncanny," He said, "No matter, Sasuke will be mine eventually! As a congratulatory gift for stalling me, I'll give you my earth scroll." Orochimaru dropped his scroll on the ground, before shimmering and disappearing. His disembodied voice echoed around the clearing, "The Sharingan will be mine eventually!" His laugh echoed before fading away into nothingness.

A tense silence dropped on Team 7.

...

"What the fuck was that?" Sasuke exclaimed suddenly, uncharacteristically breaking the silence.

"A snake bastard..." Naruto ground out. "He wanted your Sharingan."

"What did you do to make him leave, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"I sent a kage bunshin to run out of the forest and alert the examiner." He lied, "It's actually on its way here right now." He was telling the truth about that though.

As if on cue, his clone, Anko and a squad of ANBU dropped into the clearing.

"What happened?" She asked, walking up to the genin. Naruto's clone disappeared with a poof.

"Orochimaru was just here." He said quietly, "He escaped as soon as he sensed you guys coming."

Anko swore. "Fuck! We were so close..." She looked at Naruto again, "Where did he run off to?"

The blonde shrugged, "He disappeared into mud. Who knows where he could've gone..." He suddenly doubled over and was quickly caught by Anko before he hit the ground. _Shit, I forgot how tired Sage mode makes me…_

"Careful gaki," Anko chided teasingly, "We don't want you passing out in the middle of a dangerous forest now do we?"

Naruto's answer was him slipping out of her grasp and falling onto the ground with a heavy thud. "I think it's just about nap time."

The group sweatdropped.

* * *

><p>(Team 10 - 7km from tower - 12:09am)<p>

"That was way too close." Shikamaru sighed exasperatedly, "I can't believe we almost got flattened by a giant snake." He looked at massive form of the reptile. _This thing is huge, we're looking at the torso right now. It's long enough I can't even see the head from here..._

"We're lucky Chouji saw it in the air." Ino pointed out, "We'd be as flat as explosive notes right now."

The Akimichi nodded. "I didn't realize this forest had giant flying snakes though."

"It doesn't." Shikamaru said quickly, tapping the side of the snake, "If my theory's correct..."

The giant snaked bursted into an equally giant cloud of smoke, spreading over the forest. Team 10 went into a coughing fit.

"What the hell?" Ino said inbetween coughs, "Why'd it just turn into smoke like that?"

"It was a summon." Shikamaru stated as the smoke started to dissipate.

"But who would summon a giant snake?" Chouji asked. The genius shook his head.

"I have no idea." He sighed again, "This is so troublesome. I have a bad feeling about all this." He shook his head.

"We should find another place to camp out." his plump teammate suggested. Team 10 nodded at each other, and starting walking through the forest once again.

_How troublesome..._

* * *

><p>(Rock Lee - 7km from Tower - 12:14am)<p>

Lee was staring at the clearing with his mouth agape. What he had just witnessed was no ordinary battle between genin.

"Naruto-kun had tossed that snake aside like it was one of my training logs..." He stared at the various downed trees and craters around the clearing, "and he fought toe-to-toe with one of the Densetsu no Sannin... Who is this guy?"

He remembered Naruto's blinding speed, and his ability to parry and counter the Sannin's attacks like nothing. He threw out an A-rank jutsu like it was child's play and had toyed with the snake-user with speed that surpassed Lee's. The taijutsu specialist was actually going to jump in and assist the blond, but at that point in the battle he really didn't want to get in the way.

He furrowed his thick eyebrows, "He is truly beyond genin level, I cannot allow my comrades to face him in battle." He observed Team 7 slowly retreat back into the hollowed log, Naruto laughing sheepishly as he picked himself up off the ground. He walked over to the side of the river resuming his meditative position.

Cerulean eyes suddenly snapped open, making direct eye contact with Lee. _He saw me?_ The genin decided not to move, hoping he didn't attract the blonde's attention.

"Must be the wind." Lee heard Uzumaki mutter. The taijutsu expert let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

_I should start heading back, I do not want to keep my teammates waiting._

(15 minutes later)

"All right, did you guys find anything?" Neji asked his teammates.

"No… but did you hear that giant crash earlier?" Tenten said, a bit worried. "Who could've been awake at this time of night?"

Lee shuffled around his spot. "I have grave news about my findings." He stated worriedly.

"Well spit it out already, don't keep us waiting!"

"I found a team; it was the Uchiha's team." Lee began.

"Perfect, they have the dead-last; they should be an easy target." The Hyuuga said. Lee shook his head.

"No…" He gave grave looks to his teammates, "Naruto-kun was pitched in a battled against one of the Densetsu no Sannin, Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru? What the hell is he doing here?" Tenten asked in a harsh whisper.

"That I know not," Lee said with his head down. "I do know that Naruto-kun managed to match the Sannin in skill very easily, if I did not know better I would have thought he was winning."

"So you're telling me that Uzumaki boy and his team are dangerous targets?" Neji stated, a little disbelief is regularly stoic voice. "I really don't believe a deadlast like that could've fought off one of the Sannin. Is your vision impaired?"

"No!" Lee said somewhat urgently, "Orochimaru had summoned a giant snake… Naruto-kun had stopped it with his bare hands before throwing it over the forest!"

"So that's what that giant booming noise was." The bun-haired weapon mistress commented, a bit awestruck.

_His bare hands..?_ Neji thought, bring a hand up to his chin. He glanced at his team, "In any case, if what you're say is true, then we'll just have to target a different team to procure a scroll from."

"If anything, I say the best time to move is right now!" Tenten suggested. Lee nodded his head vigourously.

"Okay." Neji complied, standing up. "Let's go."

"Yosh!"

* * *

><p>(Team 7 – 5:04am)<p>

Sasuke was outside of the campout, sitting on the riverbed looking at his reflection in the water. He activated his Sharingan and snarled. The Uchiha angrily chucked a large rock into the stream, creating a large splash and disturbing some of the fish. He looked at his distorted reflection in water again, shivering slightly as he felt the ice cold water soak through his clothes.

_Where did he get the power to fight an S-Ranked criminal?_ The Genin grit his teeth. _It should be me with that power… How am I supposed to kill Itachi like this?_

He punched the ground angrily. "Dammit!" he shouted out.

_I can give you power… All you have to do is come with me._

Sasuke thought back to the words and actions of the snake man. He was extremely creepy, but if anything he was also extremely powerful if he was labelled an S-Rank criminal.

"Could he really grant me the power I need?" The Uchiha pondered. Orochimaru definitely seemed like he had gone off the deep end, but he was almost positive the snake could pass on the power he needed. "But would the price be worth it? He said he wanted my Sharingan…"

He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, "He's an S-Rank criminal for a reason," He concluded, "An Uchiha of my caliber doesn't need help from scum like him."

* * *

><p>(1 hour later)<p>

Naruto stepped out into the cold air, stretching his arms out as he yawned. His toes tickled as he walked through the dew-covered grass clearing to Sasuke sitting next to the frigid riverbed. It was still rather dim, but he insisted they move out early. Sakura tailed behind him slightly, looking groggy and but not worse for wear.

"All right, you guys got your stuff?" He asked them, his breath clouding up his vision. He received a nod and a 'Hn' from Sasuke. "Okay, good. Let's get moving, I wanna get to the tower as soon as possible so we can get out of this cold-ass forest."

The three nodded at each other before setting off and leaving nothing behind but footprints.

"Sheesh, it's pretty chilly this year isn't it?" Sakura remarked off handedly as they jumped through the forest. The cold was biting at her face.

"Tell me about it." Naruto said, his face buried deep in his muffler to shield his face from the cold. He felt a harsh shift in the wind as he hopped over a large root.

Sasuke winced as the wind cut his cheek, "What the hell…?" He heard Naruto swear loudly to his side. He felt the blonde grab his collar and toss him and Sakura rather hard off to the side. Just in time too; as they were rolling along the ground, a huge wind tunnel ripped through the forest, swallowing up the Uzumaki and sending him to god knows where.

"N-Naruto!" Sakura cried out, only for the Uchiha to slap a hand over her mouth. He watched three figures blurred through the wind-created path way of fallen trees. They sat there frozen, only the sound of their breathing being heard.

"Move!" Sasuke ordered, the pair splitting up as a genin dropped where they were standing previously. He quickly pulled out two handfuls of shuriken, getting a good look at who appeared. The ninja looked like a mummy, a large straw coat sticking out of his back. _Oto…_ he thought, gazing at the boy's hitai-ate.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" The boy muttered in a gravelly voice. The mummy bolted from his spot, weaving through a flurry of shuriken the Uchiha unleashed. "I've been ordered to murder you!"

Sasuke eyes widened, but he had no time to think as he was suddenly dodging the strange genin's punches. He deftly moved his head to the side to avoid a punch. The boy's arm whizzed past his head with a strange humming noise. He grunted in surprise as he felt a painful sensation pierce his head. He bit back a scream as he dropped to his knees, clutching his head in pain. "What the fuck?" He groaned out, his ear bleeding.

Sasuke's Sharingan flared to life as he shot at the mummy with renewed vigor, ignoring the throbbing pain pulsing through his head. He had an extremely hard time hitting the boy, even with the aid of the Sharingan. The oto-nin blocked one of his punches with an audible 'clang', and the Uchiha winced as he pulled his hand back. He tried again with a low sweep, trying to get the boy off balance. _Gotcha,_ he thought as Dosu jumped over his leg. He brought his other leg up, attempting to deliver a jaw-shattering kick to the genin's jaw…

Only to miss by a hair's breadth. _What…_ Dosu jumped back, getting some distance between him and the Mirror-Wheel wielder. Sasuke gripped his ear as blood flowed freely from it.

"You're starting to feel the effects of my Melody Arm." Dosu explained, exposing the strange metal attachment on his forearm, "It delivers a supersonic, inaudible wave of sound through these holes every time I punch. I can use my chakra to manipulate that sound, so much to the point where I can fuck with your senses."

The crisp image of the world being shown through Sasuke's Sharingan was beginning to blur slightly, and he felt a little more wobbly on his feet than usual. "Resorting to dirty tricks to beat me huh?" Sasuke taunted. _I'll show that Naruto…_ He flashed through handseals, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire release: Phoenix Fire)!" The Uchiha loosed a rapid sequence of fire balls at the nin.

"Nice try!" Dosu stuck his Melody Arm out, unleashing a concentrated burst of sound, dissipating the flames before it even got near him. He was caught off guard however, as the Uchiha had hidden a volley of shuriken within the flames. The Oto-nin parried the projectiles, but soon had to parry Sasuke's punches as he suddenly appeared in front of him. "Your attacks are getting sloppy, Uchiha!" He swatted away one of the Uchiha's punches, and delivered a solid blow to his abdomen with his regular arm. He reared his Melody Arm back, intent on crushing Sasuke's nose.

Sasuke managed to dodge, but the Melody Arm let off a low hum as it passed his other ear. The Uchiha bit back the pain and the wooziness as he kicked Dosu as hard as he could in the stomach. He heard the boy grunt as he was sent tumbling across the clearing. Sasuke grit his teeth as he held both his ears, the dizziness hitting him full force. The world started to spin, and he watched Dosu get up groggily. He looked to his right, and he saw Sakura locked in a headlock by a pretty Oto-nin, held by her hair. Sakura looked like she said something, but Sasuke could barely make out any sounds.

Dosu growled as charged at the Uchiha again, intent on taking him out once and for all. Sasuke had his eyes closed, and two steady trails of blood running from his ears. "It's over, Uchiha!" He brought his Melody Arm back, and sent a haymaker at him as hard as he could. Sasuke's eyes snapped open, and he caught Dosu's arm swiftly. He twisted it, eliciting a scream from the boy.

He caught Dosu's punch from his other arm, and delivered a hitai-ate enhanced headbutt. Dosu stumbled back, holding his head in pain. _Now's my chance!_ He blurred in front of the oto-nin, making eye contact with the boy's single eye. Sasuke's Sharingan spun wildly, 3 tomoe in each eye. He bit back the dizziness, and connected his upward kick to the sound-nin's chin.

The Uchiha reappeared underneath the mummy-like ninja, several meters in the air. He kicked the boy several times, before spinning and delivering a final downward kick, "Shishi rendan (Lion Barrage)!"

He landed on the ground clumsily, gritting his head in pain. The mummy-boy was unconscious in a rather deep body-shaped crater. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, but that was a bad choice. As soon as the crispness of the world left his eyes, he suddenly felt like he was on a high-speed carousel. His head pounded even more heavily than before, and everything around him was muffled. _D-dammit…_

Sakura watched as Sasuke walked towards her rather groggily, before falling over and passing out. "S-Sasuke-kun…" She shut up by another punch to the head by her captor.

"Our mission was to kill Sasuke-kun…" the girl stated, "Such a waste of a cute guy. Oh well, luckily he has a useless pinky for a teammate." Sakura felt tears brimming in her eyes. "Hmm… your hair's silkier than mine." She said, "If you have so much time to work on your hair rather be a ninja, I should just kill you right here."

The tears welling up in Sakura's emerald eyes spilled out.

"You're useless." Kin brought down her kunai swiftly…

"You call that a wind jutsu?" A loud smack was heard, and a body crashed through the trees of clearing, slamming right into Kin and bowling her away from Sakura. A few Narutos jumped out of the trees, weaving through handseals. "Why I oughtta… Oh, hey Sakura-chan!"

"N-Naruto..?" Sakura stammered, her eyes still puffy with tears. Blood was rolling down her forehead. Naruto dropped down, kneeling beside her. He looked rather worse for wear: his scarf torn up on the ends, his clothes and hair slightly dirty.

"Sakura…" He stated seriously, a hard gleam in his eyes. He spotted a passed out Sasuke a few feet away from another unconscious shinobi. He wiped away her tears, holding her face in his hand. "Who did this to you?"

_Naruto…_ She thought adoringly, looking at the blond as if he was a golden-haired knight in shining armor. She pointed weakly at the two sound-nin untangling themselves from each other, "It was her."

He gave a curt nod, and started walking over to the two. Zaku pointed his arms at him threateningly, "G-get away blondie!" Naruto just kept walking towards the duo.

"What are you doing Zaku?" Kin shouted, "Blast him!"

The boy steeled his resolve before pointing his arms at the slowly approaching blond, "Zankyuukyokuha (Extreme Zankuuha)!" A massive blast of cutting wind was loosed from the holes in his hands, completely obliterating the forest in front of him and leaving a long pathway of downed trees and wildlife. "Did I get him..?" He took note that Sakura was no longer sitting in her spot and there was no trace of the blond getting hit.

"I already said this before…" Said a dry voice. The two sound nin whipped their heads around to find a completely unscathed Naruto and a shaken Sakura behind him. "You call that a wind jutsu?" Kin growled at the blond shinobi, and charged at him with a kunai in her hand. As soon as she was within arm's length, the Uzumaki swatted her away with an extremely powerful back hand, sending her flying across the clearing.

"What are you?" Zaku cried out, about to void his bladder from the sheer killer intent Naruto was releasing.

"Pissed." The blonde ground out, picking Zaku up by his scarf. "Orochimaru should take this as a message; No one fucks with my team without facing the consequences." He threw the genin harshly into the air, weaving through hand-seals. "I'll show you a real wind jutsu… Fuuton: Kaze-"

"Stop!"

Naruto had his arms stuck out, ready to obliterate the poor oto-nin. Before he knew it however, two slender arms had wrapped around his neck and torso. "S-stop…" A muffled voice sobbed in his back, "You don't have to do this…" His blue eyes watched as the boy fell to the ground with a hard thump. "You don't have to do this for me."

Naruto sighed, shaking his head as he lowered his arms. "Deaths in this part of the exam were inevitable." He muttered, "They would have just as easily smeared your brains all over the forest floor if I didn't interrupt." He turned around, setting his hands gently on the puffy-eyed pinkette, "You're a shinobi now." He said sternly, "Whether you like it or not, there's no such thing as sparing anyone on the battlefield!" The blond turned around and faced the downed oto-nin. The scene reminded him of his past days, except those were much more numerous and blood filled. "There will come a time where you'll have to kill for your loved ones and your village." His eyes snapped to hers, "Don't you ever forget that."

"But we're just kids!"

"They were about to kill you, Sakura!" He said, "Don't be so naïve." His footsteps echoed through the forest as he walked towards Dosu, hovering over him. "I'm sorry… Close your eyes and turn around, Sakura."

* * *

><p>End Chapter 2<p>

* * *

><p>I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but there does happen to be a lot going on in the Forest of Death!<p>

Pairings are still undecided, but hopefully next chapter I'll come up with something.

Now, Naruto might seem overpowered; that's because he is. Compared to Genin anyway. No, he's not able to beat Orochimaru like this, far from it actually. He might be strong, but he's far from his original prowess.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

End of Forest of Death, Prelims and the one month break follow in the next chapter.

If you liked it, pleaseplease favorite and review!


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Notes: Since some people have kind of been getting on my case for this, I'll probably write out the whole Naruto vs. Madara and Sasuke fight in a flashback later on in the story to clarify how Naruto got owned. Also, if you see any misconstruencies between this plotline and canon... well, it's my mistake and I'll be using the fact that this is AU to cover it up (I'm joking, everything will tie in eventually, don't worry.)**

Anyways, ignore my irresponsibility as an author (lol, kidding again), and without further ado:

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><p>Chapter 4: All These Things<p>

Naruto was holding Sasuke in a fireman carry as they proceeded to cover the rest of the forest. He concluded that the boy was heavier than he looked, and would have to tell him to lay off the yakitori the next time he had a chance. The forest was just above freezing temperatures at this point of the day, and he once saw Sakura almost slip on some frost on a branch. Speaking of which, he had noticed the wary looks the girl was giving him. Whether it was due to his blood splattered tunic or the fact he had murdered three of Orochimaru's henchmen (and a woman) in cold blood, he would not know.

He had ordered Sakura to communicate only when necessary as they travelled towards the tower, because at this point sounds of battle surrounded them as they bounded through the trees. _Use only a whisper, and the basic sign language they taught you in the academy._ Sakura looked hesitant to comply, but realized she had no other choice since Naruto was most definitely the only one of the three fit to lead the team with his recent change in personality. Little did she know, however, that Naruto was praised as a tactical genius during his short tenure as Commander during the war. Unfortunately, tactical genius was not enough to defeat the Akatsuki.

He did not notice the pinkette's curious gaze following him as they leapt through the cold.

Sakura had to admit, she found herself growing fond of the new Naruto, but at the same time missing the bright bundle of sunshine that bugged her all the time. While this new Naruto definitely cracked a couple of his usual Naruto-esque jokes, he was a lot more reserved and less talkative than before. While she found it very attractive, (not to mention he was as badass as Sasuke now) she found herself missing the only childish member of the group. Ever since they entered the Forest of Death, he had only speaken when giving orders and explaining instructions, or when absolutely necessary. The way he had spoken to her an hour ago displayed experience well past their age group. Not to mention the fact that he was so comfortable in killing enemy ninja in cold blood. She might be a bit naive, but everything about this new Naruto was completely off.

_The Rasengan?_ She thought, remember how he had used it expertly against the Snake sannin. It had just popped into his hand, and if she remembered stories correctly, it was the Yondaime's signature jutsu. The man was able to create it in a second, and it was crucial to obliterating his enemies. Now that she thought about it, Orochimaru had said something about Naruto bearing an uncanny resemblance to the great shinobi. _Could it be? _They did look so much alike, but someone should have at least hinted at it by now (discounting Orochimaru). Why didn't he have some retardedly big estate like Sasuke? So many questions surrounded the blonde, many questions no one had ever thought of bringing up when he was still his goofy self.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts she almost didn't catch Naruto scream out her name, "Sakura, move!" Just in time too, a massive earthen spike jutted out of the ground and piercing through the trees. "This is ridiculous!" Naruto growled in frustration, "We can't get anywhere without being ambushed!" Sakura was in a tree 20 metres opposite of the blond, and she could make him out only by spotting the blue blob on his shoulders. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" Two clones poofed by his side, one taking Sasuke and leaping away and the other stood next to the original in a fighting stance.

They braced themselves however, when the spike erupted into a massive explosion. _They had it covered in explosive tags?_ Sakura deduced, clinging onto her tree with chakra. She saw two Iwa nin drop down on branches in front of Naruto. _Oh no..._

"Son of Konoha's Kiroii no Senko!" Said the red, spikey haired boy, "You will now die at the hands of the children of the people your father had slaughtered!"

The red haired girl beside him laughed, "You won't stand a chance against us, we're the best genin in all of Iwagakure!"

Naruto just stood there, staring at them, "I don't know what you're talking about, cause I've never known my parents." He crouched low, deciding to cut the chit chat. He and his clone blurred completely from their perch on the branch, reappearing underneath the Iwa genin.

_W-what... He really is the son of the Yellow Flash!_ That was Taku's last conscious thought has a bandaged hand was buried into his gut, and he was sent rocketting through the forest.

"T-Taku!" A third voice cried out as he dropped from the trees. Before he even touched the branch, Naruto's clone gave a devastating combo to the strange Iwa girl.

"Konoha Senpuu!" It twirled before delivering a strong downward kick to the girl's back, sending her crashing through several stories of branches and leaves. They turned around and faced the last genin, who looked slightly nervous but nonetheless ready to rip the blond's head off.

"My team!" He cried out, "You really are the spawn of that blond demon aren't you?" Both Narutos clenched their fists tightly as the boy belittled his father, "I'll kill you like he killed my dad!" The boy flashed through handseals surprisingly fast, "Doton: Doryuusou (Earth release: Earth Rising Spear)!"

There was a low rumbling as the boy kept his hands locked in the Snake seal, and as expected a large pillar of rock erupted from the ground underneath Naruto's feet, just barely missing him and taking out his clone. The blond smirked, before jumping blurring ridiculously fast through handseals of his own. "Nice try, but you're a thousand years too early to beat me! Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind release: Great Breakthrough)!" He held his hands out and unleashed an extremely powerful gust of wind, blasting the genin away and toppling over half an acre of forest in grand fashion.

"Wow..." Sakura commented. _His mastery of wind jutsu is phenomenal... And yet another question to be asked._ She knew the blond had a ridiculous amount of chakra, but she didn't know when he'd actually start making use of it. The entire time they'd been in forest she'd noticed (it was really hard not to) the boy throw around these insane jutsus. After watching (again, she resorted to watching lest she get caught in the crossfire... then again even if she did jump in she'd probably be of no help anyway) this fight, he displayed amazing speed and taijutsu prowess. Once again, something was definitely not adding up. How did he get so strong in like what, two weeks? It was ridiculous.

"Sakura." his voice next to her startled her once again, jumping at the sudden presence. She began to notice he'd been repeatedly dropping the 'chan' from her name. Strangely enough, she felt her heart twist at this realization. "Let's keep moving, ne?" Even so he became ridiculously charming and good-looking too. She couldn't help it, but the fact that he had become... all these things in a span of less than 14 days was making her head hurt. Whatever inner turmoil she was having though, she didn't show it as she nodded at the boy.

"What about Sasuke-kun?" She asked worriedly as they hopped through the trees once again.

"He and my clone are up ahead," He said simply, pointing towards two distant figures. They dropped down swiftly in front of the two, Naruto's clone dispelling as they got within sight. "Up and about, Sasuke?"

"Hn," He shook his head as he faced towards the tower, "Those sound ninja need dirty tricks and machines to even get near my level. They're pathetic."

"They're also dead." Naruto stated rather plainly. "They were the henchmen of the snake that tried to kidnap you."

"Serves them right for crossing the path of an Uchiha." Sasuke simply said, shrugging. "The objective is in sight, let's hurry up." Without waiting up for his teammates, he un-characteristically rushed towards the tower. Naruto had an eyebrow raised, before snapping his fingers.

"I knew it!" Naruto shouted, before going after the raven-haired ninja, "You really are a weakling against the cold!"

Sakura watched the two boys bound off before shaking her head and following suit.

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><p>(Day 2 - 11:21am - Team 7's Room in the Tower)<p>

"Finally!" the blond shouted in relief, skipping down the hall way to their designated suite. "I can't wait to take a shower and eat ramen and go to sleep and..." It would continue on in this vain until they stood outside their door, which Naruto promptly kicked open with a grin. "This place is huge!" He exclaimed as soon as the door whipped open.

"For once, I can't help but agree with you..." Sakura said, following Naruto into the rather cozy suite. Team Seven wandered around their housing for the next three days, "This place isn't half bad..."

Indeed, it was not. The rooms built into the Tower were specifically designed for shinobi to get some rest and relaxation in if they had been training a tad bit too hard. Whether they trained in teams, or by themselves, the Tower had been outfitted to match the luxuriousness of a 3-star hotel. Team 7's room was a medium-sized hotel-esque suite, with a master bedroom, a smaller 'not-so master' bedroom (as dubbed by Naruto), a living room with two couches and a small TV, a large bathroom and a small kitchen.

"I call the bathroom!" The blonde yelled out, having already stripped himself of his scarf, tunic and hitai-ate. He whipped the closets open, pulling out a nice, soft, lavender scented (and lavender coloured) towel. He stuck his face into it before take a huge sniff, "Ahh... The sweet smell of laundry." He was unable to surpress his giddyness at the chance to rid himself of disgusting dirt and grime. Yes, it was true; Naruto had become something sort of a neat and clean freak when he wasn't on the battlefield. The way he had kept his apartment in sparkling condition was a testament to that.

"What, how come you get the bath-" Sakura stomped down the hallway, only to stop mid sentence as she caught a shirtless Naruto holding onto a manly-coloured towel in front of her. _Sweet Kami have mercy on me._ The blonde seemed to strut towards her in slow motion, every rippling muscle on his torso, arms and shoulders moving with every small step he took. There was also a manly sheen of accumulated sweat lining his abs and pectorals. The way his hair had cascaded around his face... Sakura could not handle it and blood dribbled from her nostril, and she toppled backwards onto the soft carpet with a dull _thud_.

Naruto was halfway through the bathroom door when he heard the thud, peeking his head out the door to find a slightly twitching pinkette on the floor. He smirking, closing and locking the door behind him, "Still haven't lost it." he chuckled.

In the meantime, Sasuke had been the first to flop onto the couch, yawning rather loudly as he propped his head on his arms. He allowed himself a small smirk as he observed his teammates' antics. He thought back to the battle with the S-rank criminal in the forest. For once, instead of thinking about Orochimaru's offers of power, he thought about the whole ordeal itself. The Uchiha was actually rather touched that the blond went through such extreme lengths to protect him from being kidnapped. He literally put his neck on the line for his teammate; it was one of the first things Kakashi had taught them. 'Those who don't follow orders are trash, but those who don't care for their comrades is worse than trash!' _Maybe the cyclops is doing some good after all._ Sasuke was still very, very curious about how Naruto was able to fight toe-toe with one of the Densetsu no Sannin, not to mention survive.

He would be the first to (reluctantly) admit that the blonde knucklehead had seriously become a force to be reckoned with. His combat prowess came almost out of nowhere, and Sasuke was surprised when Naruto showed up that one day and displayed speed he hadn't seen since his sensei's fight with Zabuza. Then again, once a knucklehead always a knucklehead... when he wasn't on the battlefield that is. The Uchiha had to admit, he was grudgingly impressed by this new Naruto's ability as a shinobi. It was like it came from out of nowhere; Either the blond had thought of some mega-extreme training regiment (if he did, Sasuke definitely wanted in on it) or he had always been this powerful and suddenly matured.

Whatever the case was, Sasuke was going to find a way to confront the Uzumaki about this, and he was going to make sure the blond spilled his secrets. Afterall, how would his team be able to help him in his quest for revenge if they had no teamwork? He nodded to himself, before reluctantly pulling himself off the couch and shaking the still dazed Sakura on the ground.

(Half an hour later)

Sasuke, who had decided to take advantage of their new-found downtime, was sprawled out on the couch partaking in a deep nap. Sakura was sitting on the large dining table in the living room, tapping the table impatiently as she flipped through channels on the TV. That's when the bathroom doors swung open in a large cloud of steam.

"Gah, finally Naruto! You take fore-" Sakura was once again stopped mid sentence as a damp Naruto strode out of the washroom. His hair was slightly matted, and he had the manly towel wrapped behind his neck and over his shoulders. He was clad in nothing but a black pair of ahtletic shorts, and thus had small beads of water dribbling down his abdominals. _Oh man... Wait till I tell Ino that I have two supermodels on my team._ And with that, Sakura fell over with the chair, elicitng a loud crash. Naruto dashed into the living room, and Sasuke had made a glorious leap out of the couch with a kunai at the ready.

"Where are they?" He called out, his Sharingan flaring to life. Naruto just sighed as he spotted Sakura twitching on the floor again, an extremely content look on her face as a drop of blood made its way out her nose. "Naruto! Put a shirt on dammit!"

The blond just chuckled sheepishly as he retreated into the master bedroom while drying his hair. Sasuke just sighed, deciding he should take a shower before Sakura filled it with girly scents.

(That night)

Naruto was sitting at the dining table, quietly eating his cup of ramen. For how well equipped the suite was, it didn't have much in the way of actual food. The blond actually had to procure the cup of ramen from one of the storage scrolls he carried in his hip pouch. "What's this?" Sasuke said from spot on the couch, "The dobe suddenly sprouted manners?"

Sakura laughed heartily, "Since when did you stop being a barbarian?"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly, holding his cup of ramen affectionately, "I'll have you know that I do have table manners, and I do eat like a regular person."

"Speaking of which," Sakura began, her and Sasuke standing up and looming over Naruto's spot on the table. They had a strange glint in their eyes, which caused the blond to narrow his.

"Why'd you guys get so close all of a sudden?" Naruto asked suspiciously, setting his chopsticks down. The two pulled out chairs, and took seats on the table at either side of the blond.

"We wanna know how you became so strong," Sasuke continued, "And how you've suddenly gone from a dobe to a... not-so-dobe." He avoided praising the blond.

"Y-yeah!" Sakura nodded her head in agreement.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in what looked to be deep thought. He crossed his arms, his chair groaning as he leaned back. "So that's what's been on your minds lately." The two nodded, "All right, I guess I should explain. Sasuke, I know you probably wanna figure out my secrets because it'll help you get stronger," before the Uchiha could say anything Naruto continued, "I'm afraid the method I used to train is absolutely no plausible for anyone that isn't me." He saw his teammates' mouths open and he raised a hand to cease them. "Kage Bunshin, as I've explained before have much better uses than simply being fodder for the enemy to destroy. Their main purpose is to scout. How you ask? Well, every Kage Bunshin that is made has the capability to learn things and retain memories. Say, if I sent one into an enemy base and it got a good look at the layout before dispelling itself..."

"Once it dispels, it would relay all the information it had learned back to the user." Sakura concluded.

"Not bad, pinky." Naruto praised with a smirk, "That's exactly it. Therefore, I'm able to use them to train. If I had one Kage Bunshin to train alongside of me in the same exercise, we'd learn the exercise in half the time. If I made 100, then it would be cut down to one one-hundredth of the time."

"Then why don't you teach us the Kage bunshin then?" Sasuke asked rather eagerly.

"I wasn't done yet." He wagged a finger, "A single Kage bunshin uses up an extremely vast amount of chakra. One Kage bunshin probably equals to one of Sakura's whole chakra reserves." His teammates' eyes nearly bugged out of their heads, eliciting a laugh from the blond.

"Something just doesn't add up though," Sakura said once she recovered from her shock. Sasuke nodded at her to continue, "While I understand how it would make you get much more powerful in a short amount of time, I didn't know it could make you nearly jounin level in two weeks. The strain on your body must've been unreal if that was the case." Naruto smirked as she continued, "Furthermore, creating thousands of Kage bunshin don't just create amazing jutsu like the Rasengan out of nowhere, not to mention your knowledge of elemental ninjutsu as well!" Naruto's smirk became a grin.

"I didn't realize they can make you an experienced leader and tactician too." Sasuke added in.

_I also didn't realize how they could make you so damn hot!_ Inner Sakura had roared out.

"Now, that kids," Naruto began before standing up and yawning with a stretch, "Is a story for some other time." He ignored the shocked looks on his teammates' faces, "I'm beat, I think I'm gonna go hit the hay." He yawned once more, and before his teammates could protest, he closed the master bedroom door behind him, locking away any chances of bringing up the topic again.

"What a guy..." His Pink-haired teammate had muttered.

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><p>(2 and a half days later...)<p>

The remainder of Team 7's stay inside the tower went by rather uneventfully. Any attempts at resurfacing the subject had been swiftly brought to an end by some masterful 'bullshit no jutsu (as labeled by Sasuke)' with Naruto's silver tongue. So they sat rather idly in the provided suite, all off to their own devices. While Sakura and Sasuke were being bored to death by having two days worth of downtime, Naruto seemed to pass the days easily. It befuddled the two to no end as to how the blond could sit on the railing of the balcony in a strange cross-legged position facing forest for 13 or 14 hours a time.

At around noon, there was a rather loud knock on the door. Naruto was once again on the balcony meditating, but his other two teammates were either napping or occupying the washroom. Unnerved by wearing only a pair of black shorts, the sage hopped off the railing to answer the call at the door, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He swung the door open mid-knock, to come face to face with one Mitarashi Anko. There was a strange, awkward silence between the two as Anko ate up the delicious eye candy in front of her. Naruto couldn't help but twitch as she didn't even bother hiding the fact that she shamelessly scanned his body with an added lick of lips at the end. "If only you were older…" The jounin sighed.

Naruto smirked, deciding to play along. "Well, you know what they say, age is only a number."

The snake mistress barked out a laugh that echoed throughout the hallway, "I'll might have to take you up on that offer then, gaki," She said with a wink, "Anyways, make sure you and your team are downstairs in the dojo by 1pm! Don't be late." She looked him over one more time before winking and walking to the next occupied room on the floor.

The blond closed the door before glancing at the clock. _Fifteen minutes huh?_ He rapped on the bathroom door, "Yo Teme, hurry up and wipe your ass, we gotta be at the dojo in fifteen minutes!" There was a cry of an echoed 'fuck you!' from inside the bathroom. He chuckled before stepping into the bedroom where Sakura was promptly passed out. "Sakura," He said, shaking her. Naruto smirked as she merely turned over and mumbled something that sounded oddly like his name. He bent over and shook her one more time.

"N-Naruto…?" She said groggily, her eyes fluttering open. "That's weird, I was just dreaming about you…" The pinkette probably had no idea what she just said due to her sleep induced state.

"Well, that's nice, but we gotta be in the dojo in fifteen minutes." He laughed before exiting the room, "Get all your gear on!"

(Preliminary Dojo)

As the remaining 7 genin teams filed into the rather large and empty room, they were surprised to find their senseis already standing there. They regrouped with their sensei before standing in front of Anko, a sickly looking Hayate and the Sandaime. Naruto scanned the teams in the room.

"I want to congratulate you twenty-one genin on making it through the second portion of the Chuunin exam!" She said exuberantly, flashing a smile at them, and flashing a wink a particular blond genin near the back. She scanned the group of genin and jounin. _Four Konoha teams, one Suna team, and one Iwa team huh?_

"Unfortunately," Hayate said, walking up beside her, "You guys aren't out of the clear just yet." He coughed, noticing the bewildered faces of the genin, "That's right. There are twice as many genin here than required for the finals." He coughed again, "So we're holding a preliminary round."

"That's right," Anko said, "We need to cut you guys in half, not literally you punks, by staging single match-ups in a random order." She pointed at a large electronic screen on the wall, "That will select two names at random, at which they'll have to come down here and fight. Everyone else will wait and watch on the stands up there."

The Sandaime stepped up, "As Hokage of this village, I would like to wish all of you genin good luck. You may now proceed to the stands."

The crowd of genin began filtering to their respective stands. As he stood in front of Kakashi in the middle of his stand, he observed the genin leaning on the rails directly across from him. _So those Iwa nin made through after all._ He saw the team of Iwa nin that he had soundly disabled a few days ago. They looked, more or less, worse for wear.

"The first two names will be drawn!" The large board made a ticking sound as it flashed through all the potential names.

_Juuichi Ryu vs. Hyuuga Neji._

The blond watched as the talented Iwa genin he had toppled over with a daitoppa in the forest made his way down to the floor. Neji calmly walked down as well. Ryu, the Iwa nin, had short brown hair that was stopped by his red hitai-ate. Akin to most Iwa nin, he wore a red long sleeved shirt with sleeves that went past his hands, black shinobi pants and blue sandals.

"All right, before we begin the first match," Hayate coughed once more, "I'd like to lay down the rules." He projected his voice slightly louder for everyone to hear, "If I feel the match has a clear winner, I will stop it. If one genin is no longer able to fight, I will stop it. I am your referee, Hayate Gekkou, and you will begin on my mark." He coughed a couple times before putting his hand up. The two talented genin shifted in a battle stance, Neji in his Jyuuken style and Ryu in a unique looking taijutsu style as well. The jounin dropped his hand. "Hajime!"

"Fate has decided you will see defeat at the hands of a Hyuuga." Neji said stoically, awaiting the other genin to attack at him first. The Iwa nin simply smirked. They rushed at each other with impressive speed.

_A Hyuuga huh?_ Ryu thought as he got closer to Neji. _His Byakugan is activated already, so that means I'll have to avoid those palm strikes of his at all times. He could seriously injure something if I mess up._ His speculation hit the nail on the head, as he just barely dodged the Hyuuga's Jyuuken strike. _He's fucking fast!_ The Iwa nin was having a very hard time trying to stay ahead of the Hyuuga, his palms barely missing him. Ryu slapped one of Neji's strikes away before retreating in a series of flips.

He flashed through a few seals before stopping in the snake seal, "Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu (Rock Clone)!" two pillars shot up from the ground beside him before morphing into two exact copies of himself. They all charged at the same time, jumping at the Hyuuga. He quickly swatted away both clones, and delivered a chakra enhanced palm to Ryu's stomach, launching him backwards. He slammed into the wall, panting heavily as he knelt on the ground. "Blood...?" he whispered it dribbled out of his mouth.

He rushed at the Hyuuga again, engaging in an intense taijutsu bout. He slapped the boy's palm to the side before punching him in the chest, causing Neji to stagger. He used this opening to grapple onto Neji and toss him across the arena in a judo-style hip toss. Neji managed to recover mid air and land swiftly, but Ryu was on him once again. Neji smacked the boy in the abdomen, smirking in victory. He was surprised as the boy took the blow before kicking Neji square in the chest.

The Hyuuga staggered once again, and Ryu capitalized on it. He rushed forward; jumping, he delivered a ferocious tornado kick to Neji's face. The genin in the stands gasped as the prodigy was sent skipping across the floor. The boy skidded to a stop, stoically staring at the brown-haired Iwa nin. He merely dusted himself off before rocketting off again. The speed was very impressive, Ryu had to admit. It was no where near the blond demon-spawn's speed but it was impressive nonetheless. He struggled to put up a guard against the Jyuuken, but obviously he wasn't too keen on getting a spleen ruptured.

He flashed through hand seals as he weaved around another palm strike, holding his hands in the serpent seal, "Doton: Doryuuso (Earth Rising Pillar)!" He ducked under a strike before stomping on the ground, causing a thick, blunt pillar of stone to burst out of the ground and deliver a jaw shattering uppercut to the Hyuuga... Only for him to pop into a log. Ryu had no time to react as Neji appeared behind him, delivering three quick strikes to his back, launching him forward.

"I told you..." Neji stated, "Fate has already decided you will lose this match." The boy's eyes snapped up the pale eyes of the branch family member. Anger and pain flashed through his vision, as images of the smiling face of his father framed around the house replaced the visage of the Hyuuga.

_Father..._ _I won't lose here. I'll exact my revenge once and for all._ "Enough playing around!" He growled out before weaving through another set of hand seals. _The Hyuuga is very fast taijutsu wise, but he has almost no way to counter ninjutsu. _He felt extremely fatigued; the Hyuuga was not aiming to seriously injure anything important, so he felt lucky. This would be Neji's downfall for underestimating him though. Two Doton bunshin appeared by his side, attempting to distract Neji to blind side him with this next attack.

Naruto and Kakashi smirked as they watched the Iwa nin weaving through this particular set of handseals. The blond knew it very well; it was one of his favourite attacks.

One bunshin was swatted away handily and it exploded into rock. The other one managed to punch Neji in the stomach, distracting him long enough for the real Ryu to finish his set, "Doton: Doryuudan no jutsu (Earth Dragon Bullet)!" A smaller version of Naruto's amped up dragon burst up from the floor, doing a set of spins before slamming extremely hard into the Hyuuga prodigy. It all happened within a split second of the punch connected by the clone. Neji had saw it coming with his Byakugan, but had no means to counter it in such a small timeframe. He had lost his footing and was unable to gather enough chakra for a Kaiten. It rammed Neji into the wall with a massive amount of physical force, soundly knocking the living daylights out of him.

The Iwa nin scoffed, "Fate my ass." He was panting heavily and sweating profusely; the technique was ridiculously chakra-intensive, and he was going to have to have a long rest.

"Winner:** Juuichi Ryu**." Hayate announced. Ryu acknowledged this before returning back to his cheering team of lone Iwa nin. He had an intense, one-sided staredown with Naruto as he walked across the platform to his team. He saw red as the blond merely smirked.

* * *

><p>Naruto leaned against the railing, just watching the fights rather idly. The fights after the first one became more and more boring, and at one point the blond even yawned. Tenten had gone up against Temari next. The quadruple pony-tailed girl had been the bunhaired girls exact opposite, and she soundly swatted away all of the girl's projectiles with strong gusts of wind. <em>Hehe... I love wind.<em> Sakura had gone against Ino after that. As much as he liked his teammate and her blond haired counterpart, their fight had lasted for almost an hour (which was surprising because they both had horrendous stamina). He almost fell asleep on the railing; an act that actually got a chuckle out of Kakashi and a smirk from Sasuke.

They would then punch each other's lights out, eliciting a yawn from the Uzumaki. The next match was a slight more interesting, but the lazy Nara had no intention of putting the effort into making it interesting. Shikamaru had gone against the fiery red-headed Iwa kunoichi, Maki. Within ten seconds of the match, Shikamaru had already laid out a plan and trapped her in it. The girl was about to rush at him, but was flabbergasted that she was unable to move. All the Nara had to do was walk backwards a couple steps and swing her head against the wall, knocking her out. She had to be carried out on a stretcher, with the lazy Nara simply muttering a "troublesome..."

Hinata was up against Chouji next. While both seemed reluctant to fight, they were ushered on by their jounin senseis. Surprisingly, Hinata had taken dominance very early in the match, using her Jyuuken to fend off Chouji's unique taijutsu style. She managed a few devastating hits, but at this point the round boy became frustrated. He used a baika no jutsu enhanced punch to try to knock the frail girl unconscious, but she dodged it rather nimbly. Naruto had to admit, this fight had been a lot more interesting than he'd anticipated. Hinata was a lot more skilled than anyone had given her credit for. Her efforts came to an abrupt end though, as Chouji blew himself up into a rolling ball and slammed into the poor girl, effectively knocking her out. The chubby boy threw his arms up in the air, proclaiming that Asuma had to pay for the next trip to the All-You-Can-Eat Barbeque restaurant.

The electronic board started to shuffle names again. Naruto blinked when he looked up at the board. _Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gaara_. "Well, that's a twist." He muttered. He felt a hand drop on his shoulder, and looked up into Kakashi's lone crinkled eye.

"Good luck, Naruto." He said. Naruto acknowledged it before heading down to the floor. He stood across the Jinchuuriki, his scarf shielding the bottom half of his face from view. The red-haired boy game him a sinister grin.

"I will enjoy killing you, Uzumaki." Gaara stated, itching to crush the blond kid like a bug.

"Good luck to you too, Gaara." Naruto muttered as he glanced at Hayate.

"Ready?" Both combatants nodded, shifting into battle positions; Gaara had sand constantly swirling around him and Naruto slipped into his kata. "Hajime!"

As soon as the proctor dropped his hand, Naruto shimmered from his position. He reappeared in front of Gaara a split second after, delivering a roundhouse kick right into his jaw. The red-head was launched across the floor, slamming harshly into the wall, cracks spider-webbing behind him. A maniacal laugh was heard as Gaara's head snapped up to meet Naruto's eyes. His face was cracking, and there was a trail of blood running from the corner of his mouth. Naruto kept wary, but was surprised when he found sand pooling around his feet.

"I forgot how amazing his control over this sand was..." He said under his breath as he fought to break his ankles free from the sand.

"You will die here Uzumaki!" Gaara cried out as sand shot out from his gourd. Naruto cursed as he quickly replaced himself with a helpless kage bunshin, which was completely decimated in a tidal wave of sand. The blond jumped over a thick tendril of sand, only to just barely dodge another that was already in mid-air. He landed 30 metres away from the boy, who had a mass of sand waving around dangerously around him.

They all shot out at the same time, rushing at him with surprising speed. Naruto smirked, _Gotcha._ He clasped his hands into the tiger seal, gathering up a massive amount of chakra into his lungs, "Katon: Gouenkyuu no jutsu (Fire Release: Roaring Flame Sphere)!" He shot out a massive pink-tinged fire ball at the tendrils of sand.

It roared as it shot down the length of the building, leaving a charred trail in it's wake. It emitted an intense pink-tinged light as well, the heat from the fire ball melting the tendrils of sand into beautiful glass (well, kind of beautiful) sculptures. The entire room was engulfed with a blinding white light as the fireball exploded at the opposite end of the blond.

_That attack was insane..._ Sasuke thought, _The amount of chakra needed to power that jutsu is monstrous._

When everyone's retinas stopped burning from the light, they noticed a large glass-coated sphere of sand at the other end of the blond. Naruto barely had time to think as a massive arm of sand broke out of the sphere and collided with the ram-seal statue behind him. A half-transformed Gaara broke out of the sand sphere, eyeing the long glass formations around the room. Naruto was no where to be seen among them.

"Where are you, Uzumaki?" The red-head said in a gravelly, transformed voice. One of his sand arms shot out, toppling a few of the sculptures in his wake. "You can't hide for very long!"

Naruto was sat behind a thicker glass sculpture; the size of the formation refracted the image of the blond ninja just enough that Gaara couldn't spot him out right away. _I have one chance at this._ He quickly vacated the position as a thick arm drove itself through the glass pillar he was hiding behind. The blond started to charge straight at the other jinchuuriki, his scarf billowing behind him as started blurring through handseals.

"You're dead!" Naruto swiftly dodged the other arm by ducking as he ran. He finished his handseals, his hand glowing with chakra shaped as five kanji on his fingertips.

_W-what... When did he learn that seal?_ Kakashi thought surprised, his hands gripping the railing.

The blond slammed his hand into Gaara's stomach, "Gogyou Fuuin (Five Element Seal)!" A burst of chakra surged through Gaara's body, and he was literally thrown backwards and sent skipping across the floor. Naruto stood in the middle of the floor panting as he eyed the now-unconscious body of the red headed jinchuuriki. The blond hated to say it, but his prowess in fuuinjutsu had diminished greatly over the time-warp. Simple seals like the ones plastered around his home and mid-level seals like the hastily created Gogyou Fuuin either took a lot of time or a lot of chakra.

Gaara's body slowly reverted to his natural form, looking no worse for wear than his opponent. The gourd on his back however, was cracked wide open and spilt sand all over the floor. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto." The Genin, quite dumbfounded at what had not reacted to the victory. Gaara's team was for the most part, in pure shock as shown by the look on their faces.

Naruto less-than-energetically climbed up to the rafters, joining his remaining raven-haired teammate and cyplops sensei. "Good job, Naruto." Kakashi stated proudly, resting a hand on the blond's shoulder, "That jutsu... What exactly did you do?"

The blond gave a weary sigh, "Gaara was undergoing a transformation under the influence if the Ichibi Shukakku." Kakashi was a bit surprised at his bold statement on revealing the identity of Gaara's bijuu, "The gogyou fuuin is a seal that stops the flow of the bijuu's chakra mixing with the host's, so I stopped the transformation until I can figure out a way to make the seal more stable." _Or at least until I can consult something with that perverted sage-sensei of mine..._ "In the meantime, he'll be unconscious for 24 hours."

"Wow, that's... Very impressive." Kakashi said simply, "There are many things we'll need to be discussing; the fact that you've suddenly become the second coming of the Yondaime Hokage will be one of them."

Naruto sighed as he reclined onto the wall, "I'm well aware of that, Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

><p>Lee had gone up against Kankuro after Naruto's match, and there was almost no contest. Lee has confounded the pyjama wearing puppet-user with amazing speed, and in 5 minutes had knocked the older boy out with an impressive combination of kicks. Kankuro would proceed up to the rafters rather shamefully. Temari had gotten it off easy, she had fought someone who was the polar opposite of her style and demolished her. She would be the only one of the Sand siblings to advance to the finals.<p>

Afterwards, Shino was pit against the remaining Iwa genin: A generic, brown-haired boy named Nandaba Taku. Shino's ranged, kikkaichu-based attacks served as a perfect foil to the boy's strange taijutsu style. Apparently, the boy was adept at suiton jutsu; unfortunately for him the arena was very water-deprived. Well out of his element, Shino overwhelmed him with the chakra devouring insects and rendered him unconscious within 8 minutes of the match start.

All that was left was the dog user Kiba and Team 7's very own Sasuke. People had expected the Uchiha to dominate the Inuzuka, but to his credit, Kiba put up a very good fight. His usage of the Gatsuuga (Fang over Fang) in combination with Juujin bunshin (Beast Clone) managed to be a formidable combination against the much higher-rated foe. When Sasuke had activated his Sharingan however, he turned the tables quickly. Predicting the movements of Kiba's Gatsuuga, he managed to elminate Akamaru from the picture and defeat the Inuzuka with a swift combo he had dubbed the Shishi Rendan (Lion combo).

After nearly 5 hours of the genin brutalizing each other, it finally came to a conclusion. The remaining, battered genin stood in a line in front Hayate, Anko and the Sandaime.

"Congratulations on making it past the second part of the exam... You're now to proceed to the finals." Anko stated with a wide grin. Hayate coughed before he started to speak.

"The Final of the Chuunin exam consists of a tournament styled system. You will each be pit against each other in single match ups. Luckily for you, you get a four week hiatus to rest and hone your skills until the final obstacle to chuunin promotion." Anko pulled out a box, seemingly out of nowhere.

"You guys will now each draw a slip of paper from this box. Each slip of paper has a number, and you guys will be matched up accordingly depending on the number you have." She held the box out in front of the genin one-by-one, each of them pulling a number out. By the time they were done, the large electric board had displayed the brackets. Anko coughed into her fist as she cleared her throat. "The match-ups are as followed:

**Juuichi Ryu vs. Uzumaki Naruto**

**Nara Shikamaru vs. Temari**

**Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee**

**Aburame Shino vs. Akimichi Chouji**

The tournament will be held in exactly one month from today at the large stadium near the Hokage Tower. I wish you all luck!"

* * *

><p>(Early December - Four Weeks until Chuunin Exam Finals)<p>

Naruto woke up the next morning to Kakashi sitting on his balcony reading _Icha Icha_. His silver-haired sensei invited himself in as Naruto went about the kitchen preparing his breakfast. As usual, the jounin opened up the fridge to start helping himself to whatever food Naruto had in fridge that didn't require to be cooked.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm sure you didn't break into my house to just eat my food and take up space." Naruto stated plainly as he guzzled down a glass of milk.

"No, Naruto," Kakashi said, snapping his book shut as he eyed his blond protege. "I'm not sure if I should be worried or proud about your recent development, because frankly I'm both." Naruto nodded, digging into his scrambled eggs. Kakashi looked serious for once.

"Why would you need to be worried?" Naruto asked, "I'm still Naruto afterall, it's not like I'm gonna go terrorize the village as an overpowered genin."

Kakashi sighed, "Do I really need to take you to the Hokage to have you interrogated? I'd much rather not as it saves me time and energy."

The blond shrugged, "Even if I did tell you, you probably wouldn't even believe me." He set his plates in the sink, washing his hands before he rubbed his temples. It almost went unnoticed by Kakashi, but the blond had activated the privacy seals hidden around the house.

"For the twenty-third time Naruto, I'm your sensei." Kakashi said somewhat exasperatedly, "I'll hear you out. Considering the fact that you had taken the effort to activate the privacy seals around the house I'm guessing it's rather important yet at the same time ridiculously absurd."

Naruto gazed out the window. He deactivated the seals, seemingly changing his mind. "I'll tell you eventually. There's someone I need to find first, though."

"Who might that be...?" Kakashi asked.

* * *

><p>"Oh, Reiko-chan, that pink swimsuit you're wearing looks so good on you! Hehehehe!" Jiraiya perversely giggled to himself as he peered through a small hole in the hotspring's wooden fence. He whipped out a small note pad and began writing things down, all the while giggling everytime he peeked into the hole. "This is amazing... I swear to kami this village produces nothing less than 8s. It's like every street on Konoha is filled with beautiful women!"<p>

"Ero-Sennin." A voice came from behind him. A tick mark appeared on the toad sage's forehead as his head snapped around to meet the interloper.

_Blond hair... Blue eyes... I see._ "Perverted Sage? It seems my reputation proceeds me then!" Jiraiya walked into the middle of the street before performing an outlandish dance, "A man of unsurpassed bravery, a shinobi of unprecented skill and a gentleman the ladies cannot resist... I am the great Toad Sage of Myobokuzan; The Amazing and Gallant Jiraiya-sama!"

Naruto simply grinned. _It's been a while, shishou._ "Great, I know who you are and you know who I am! To put it simply, I need your help."

"Eh?" Jiraiya hopped off the large frog he was standing on, "Why would I help a runt like you?"

The blond lifted up his shirt and started drawing on chakra, the seal showing visibly. "Come on, ero-sennin! The amazing and gallant Jiraiya-sama is a master of fuuinjutsu, is he not?"

Jiraiya chuckled, "Well I suppose so. Fine, let's head out to the forest and you can ask me what you want then."

(10 minutes later)

They sat in the middle of a rather secluded clearing at the outskirts of Konoha. Naruto looked around before blurring through handseals and slamming his hand on the ground, a seal array rippling through the forest for a split second. Jiraiya looked on intrigued.

"Privacy seals?" The white haired sage gazed at the blond, "Pretty impressive, especially for a genin."

"That's because I'm not a genin." Naruto stated, _At least not in my head anyways._ "I'm about to share some information with you," He said, going deathly serious, "It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not."

"Is that so?" Jiraiya brought a hand to his chin, "All right kid you've piqued my interest. Go on."

The blond sighed before rubbing a hand behind his head. "I'm not who you think I am." He paused, "Well, I am, but not really. I come from ten years in the future, where the entire elemental nations are torn by war. You were my master, and you died." Jiraiya looked passive, "The Five elemental nations had joined forces in a war against a terrorist gang called Akatsuki. I fought against their leader, and I almost died. That is, until I met my father in limbo and he sent me back in time."

Jiraiya just nodded, "Okay, and how do you expect me to believe that? More importantly, how do you expect me to believe you're from the future?" _But if what he says is true, then the runt could provide me with valuable information regarding the Akatsuki..._

Naruto grinned before he stood up, sticking a hand out, "Because of this. Rasengan!" The ball popped into his palm, spinning wildly. The sage's eyes widened.

"Y-you've mastered the Rasengan?"

The blond held up a hand to silence his former master. _Let's see if my wind training's paid off._ He lowered another hand on top of the orb, "You'll wanna stand back for this!" A screeching noise filled the clearing, "Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!" A fully matured rasenshuriken was in Naruto's hand as he struggled to keep it stable. After a few seconds, it dissipated and he was sent to his knees panting.

"You've completed the Rasengan..." Jiraiya was in sincere awe, and to his credit, he wasn't easily impressed. "I see, well if you're really from the future, why would you need the help of an old coot like myself?"

A sad smile graced the blond's features, "Shishou, you're a seal master are you not?"

_Shishou...?_ Jiraiya's smirk betrayed his inner turmoil, "So my reputation does proceed me! Of course I am!" Naruto nodded.

"As am I," He began, "But for the death of my cannot figure out what is wrong with the Hakke Fuuin (Eight trigrams seal) holding the Kyuubi in." He looked thoughtful for a moment, before he lifted up his shirt and channeled chakra some chakra. "Don't worry, the Kyuubi's not gonna get out... As a matter of fact, I can't even find the Kyuubi in it's seal to begin with."

"Hold on a sec..." Jiraiya studied the array on the boy's abdomen carefully, before bringing a hand up to his chin. He ran his hand over the array before putting on a look of bewilderment. "Turn around, kid." Naruto did as instructed. Plastered on the boy's back was a much larger, tribal-looking seal array that glowed a faint red. There was a spiral on his mid back, but a circular maze-styled pattern surrounded it. "You've got another seal on your back... It seems to be syphoning most of the Kyuubi's chakra."

"What?" Naruto was legitimately confused now. "I don't remember getting another..." His eyes widened.

_"Good luck my son! I have nothing but utter fate in you!" Minato blurred through an extremely long set of handseals. "Brace yourself, Naruto! This is going to be extremely painful!" The Yondaime slammed his hands into his son's back, a white light emanating from them, "__Jikuukan Fuuin: Gyakuji Idou no Jutsu (Space-Time seal: Reverse Time Migration)!"_

"I see..." Naruto shifted into his lotus position, "Okay Ero-sennin, give me a minute."

"Would you stop calling me that?" Jiraiya was about to rant at the blond but his eyes were already closed.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto woke up to the same blinding white he had seen the last time he was here. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He sat cross legged on the floor with a hand to his chin, "Hmm... So if the seal is on my back..." The proverbial lightbulb popped above his head. He stood up, in a split second a door just appeared in front of him. It was rather dingy, and had the words 'back door' scrawled on it hastily. Naruto snickered in victory as he whipped the door open.

His jaw nearly dropped when he got to the other side. The blond entered the small circular clearing, the door disappearing behind him. He did a full 360; the room he was in was covered with an endless stone labryinth, lining the walls and floor. The ceiling however was a rather ornate view of the universe, nebula clouds and stars twinkling softly.

What was in the middle of the room, however, surprised him the most. The Kyuubi was was sitting on a stone clock-themed platform; a large metal hub with large, coloured tubes jutting from his back. The tubes led into several pathways of the labryinth, seemingly going on endlessly.

"K-kyuubi..." Naruto started, slowly approaching the fox. It was no larger than 7 feet tall now, and surprisingly, it wearily raised it's head to look at the boy.

"Ah, hello Naruto." It said. It sounded more like a young man than anything. The fox's red tails swished around behind him, "It seems you've finally found your way to me." It crossed it's front paws, resting it's head on them.

"Tell me about it... What happened to you? Why are you here?" Naruto asked, gesturing at the strange scenery.

"Allow me to elaborate..." The Kyuubi began, "You know about the seal on your back, correct?" Naruto nodded, "Well, that seal is actually the space-time seal your father used to send us back in time. There's a catch however." The blond was sitting down at the point, listening intently. "The seal requires a massive amount of chakra to send someone back in time with this kind of magnitude.

The Jikuukan Fuuin: Gyakuji Idou  is one of the most complex and powerful seals ever created. Only Kami herself knows how to create it, and she passed the knowledge on to your father. The seal itself consists of two layers: One layer that rips the fabric of space time, and the other to send you back in time. The first layer uses up a shitload of chakra to forcibly rip the space-time continuum like that. The second layer, however, is what makes it impossible for regular people to time-travel."

"Regular people?"

"Right, people who aren't the Kyuubi-jinchuuriki is what I meant to say. The second layer of the seal not only requires a massive amount of chakra to begin with, but also a sustained flow of chakra. You cannot stay in the past unless the seal is powered by a constant flow of chakra, meaning that if chakra stopped going into the seal, we'd be sucked into a black hole and never be heard of (in this dimension, anyway) again."

"So you're saying the seal is using your chakra as a power source?" Naruto said, slamming a fist into his palm.

"Exactly. If I wasn't stuck in the god-awful labryinth, then the both of us can call our asses dead cause we'll be ripped apart by a black hole." Kyuubi sighed, "That also means I can't really lend you any aid during battle."

"Well, shit." Naruto's palm went up to his face, "So I'll be unable to use your chakra?"

"It seems all my chakra is currently being used to power this seal, so I'm afraid not."

Naruto shrugged, "Won't you run out of chakra?"

The fox shook its head, "The amount of chakra the seal sucks out gets replaced as soon as it leaves, so it's impossible."

The blond nodded. "Well, I can't really do anything now except appreciate the fact that you're keeping us alive. I'll try and study this seal a bit more; tweak it so you don't have to be stuck in this place by yourself."

"Well, I rather like the view but whatever floats your boat I guess." The Kyuubi chuckled.

"The great Kyuubi no Yoko making jokes? We might as well get sucked up a black hole right now!" The Kyuubi swiped a paw at him, who deftly avoided it.

"Yeah, yeah, get outta here you stupid gaki." Naruto laughed as a door shimmered behind him.

"Don't worry Kyuubi, I'll figure something out!"

* * *

><p>End Chapter 4<p>

* * *

><p>I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long!<p>

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter. A lot of things happened, a lot of relationship building yadda yadda. I thought it would be cool to pit Naruto against one of those Iwa kids in the finals (someone suggested it, I thought it was a cool idea) so I did. I hope this chapter explained some stuff for you guys!

And yes, Naruto is also a bonafide ladies man. He can get the mack-daddy on like no tomorrow.

Anyways. What'd you guys think? Leave me suggestions and stuff by reviewing and favoriting and whatnot!

Next chapter: Four weeks of what..?


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